Mobile Suit Gundam: Imperium
by Snarky Miracles
Summary: Set in an original universe. Gundam: Imperium tells the stories of two teams of mobile suit pilots fighting for the Imperium and the Sovereign Spheres Alliance. Follow each faction as they navigate a myriad of political and societal obstacles which will set them on a collision course that could decide the fate of the solar system. And humanity itself.
1. Imperium - Prologue

**MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM  
IMPERIUM**

Created by:  
Dilis, Miriya, Teira, and Yo-wan

Written by:  
Miriya

Edited by:  
Teira

Special thanks to our test readers:  
Q, Rosy, and Liz

Based on and inspired by "Mobile Suit Gundam" created by:  
Yoshiyuki Tomino

* * *

 **Foreword:**

Mobile Suit Gundam: Imperium is a work of fanfiction produced by a team of highly opinionated and visionary individuals. After many hours of research and debate on philosophy, mythology, and politics we have confidently crafted a story which we believe raises interesting points and issues for discussion about the real world and the people living within it.

The world of the Imperium is one of harsh strife. Humanity has expanded from Earth and colonised the entire solar system. We now find ourselves in a time of great turmoil as the Seat of the Imperium, Earth, seems to be losing its iron grip on the rest of the colonised worlds as they begin to rise up in opposition to their imperialistic rule.

Imperium is a story designed to make you, as its reader, think and consider very carefully the lengths you'd go to for what you believe is right. It is set to challenge your morals and your intellect. We hope you will analyse each scene with the precision we took in crafting them. There is a lot here for anyone who can find it. And we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it.

 **Disclaimer:**

This story is rated M because it is intended for mature readers.

Mobile Suit Gundam and all associated content is property of their respective owners.

This story takes place in an original setting created in collaboration by the persons listed above. All original content, characters, locations, ships, mobile suits, etc, unless otherwise stated, belong to us.

The Gundam featured on the cover is the ZGMF-X71T Arch Destiny Gundam created by WackyModder84, and drawn by Naharl Shiinen. This mobile suit is featured in our story as the _G-X-10 Gundam Hecate_ and slightly modified to fit the setting since this isn't Gundam SEED. We are using it because it is awesome and because it has inspired much of the mobile suit technology featured in this story, so it deserves a place in it, and recognition.

* * *

 **"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." -John F. Kennedy**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Somewhere in deep space between Earth and Venus a mobile suit's rifle was pointed at the bridge of the commercial cargo vessel while it was being ordered to stop. The pilot considered the vessel carefully, calculatingly, it posed no threat whatsoever. The solution would be as simple as the pilot could make it, a display of overwhelming force which would terrorize the crew into total submission.

As emerald eyes narrowed in the thin slit of a visor, target tracking designations were being placed upon each crew member who could be seen on the display. Looking, waiting, and hoping for any hint of anything which would offer just half an excuse to pull the trigger. Lips curved into a small smile which vanished as quickly as it appeared. Finally another finger reached for another button on the hand controls and pressed down.

With a cold, monotonous, and authoritative tone of voice the pilot began to address the crew over the radio, "This is Dame Alexis Lockheart. In the name of His Highness Prince Leon Fortier, I command you to surrender and prepare to be boarded. If you do not comply, I will _destroy_ you."

At the same time, aboard the ship in question the Captain stood up and glared fearfully at the mobile suit which had its large caliber rifle pointed at his bridge. He looked to his first officer and pointed back at the door leading off the bridge. "You know what to do. We'll stall as long as we can!"

The man looked fearfully at his captain, then quickly nodded. The Captain made a show of barking orders to the rest of his bridge crew before picking up a phone from his command console to address the mobile suit pilot before him.

"Your Ladyship. I am the Captain of this vessel. We will surrender and comply. But please be aware that we are carrying vital cargo to help alleviate a Humanitarian crisis on-"

He was cut off by the loud noise of a mobile suit's fist slamming the top of the bridge. A moment later the loudspeakers on the bridge came alive with her voice once again. "Don't take me for a fool," said said calmly.

With that, she drew back the arm of her mobile suit and prepared to ram her fist through the window of the bridge. Her eyes scanned the display and zoomed in towards the Captain's face as his officers started fleeing for the exit in what she knew would be a vain attempt to prolong their insignificant lives.

"Alexis! Stop it at once!" Came a loud command over her radio that stopped the mobile suit's fist a mere meter from impact. "I want as much of the crew alive as possible for questioning, do you understand?"

Alexis sat back in her seat as the Prince's voice filled her ears. "Yes Your Highness. As you wish."

* * *

 **BC-11  
I.S.S. Scorpio  
Zodiac Class Battlecruiser  
Crew Compliment: **800

The Zodiac class battlecruiser represents the pinnacle of Terran engineering and the military might of the Earth Sphere's Imperium. Each is capable of supporting a full mobile suit battalion.

Armed with 6 massive railgun turrets and dozens of close in weapon systems for support. They also carry a classified number of nuclear missiles.

* * *

Prince Leon set down the reports he was reading over from the investigation of the cargo ship they had seized. It wasn't so much the new evidence they had gathered. But rather the complete lack of it which troubled his thoughts. The ship's computers had been wiped clean. Hard drives self destructed. There was also the suicide of several of the passengers and officers. That was what troubled him the most. Whatever they were protecting was big.

"Shall I begin interrogating the people we have in custody?" Alexis asked him flatly.

Leon took a deep breath and sighed, "I don't think that would be wise."

"Interrogations might reveal an important clue to something else. We should at least try," replied Alexis.

Leon looked up across his desk at the young woman before him. She glared at him with those cold emerald eyes and he had no idea what she was thinking, or what she might do if she didn't feel like she was going to get her way.

She was a young woman in her early twenties. Her royal golden hair flowed freely down to her lower back and over her shoulders. She had a slender athletic build which made her look very much like the elegant women one might expect to find at court rather than here aboard one of the Imperium's twelve largest warships.

Looking into her eyes, the young Prince had to keep reminding himself who he was dealing with here. Her beautiful looks were a carefully crafted and well maintained facade. She was quite possibly the single most dangerous person he had ever known.

"You misunderstand. I do want them interrogated. But I don't want you to handle it personally. You may oversee the interrogations if you wish. But you are not to lay a hand on any of the prisoners," Leon said sternly.

"This is about what happened before isn't it? Why do you think I care what your brothers have to say about our methods? They work. Until they do something of significance in their pointless lives they're in no position to judge me." She stated coldly, "Or you," she added almost as an afterthought.

Leon took a nervous breath, the cold tone she took with him was sending chills through his body, "I'm sorry, I have to say no. The last thing I need is another incident going on the record. My siblings don't need anymore ammunition to take to my father about us. You don't want that either. Correct?"

"No, Your Highness. I don't want that. I will obey," she said while exiting the room.

* * *

Striding confidently through the interior of the ship were two silver haired knights, a man and a young woman. The man's sleek mane reached his well defined cheekbones and framed his face, the young woman's hair flowed elegantly behind her like a cape reaching down to her knees. They shared gleaming amethyst eyes and a fair skin complexion; while he towered above her by a full head and shoulders.

The interior of the Scorpio was brightly lit and sterile. Paint was applied meticulously and with immaculate attention to detail. Everything from the floor signage, to the bulkheads themselves was lovingly coated. The pride and joy that workers put into every detail of the ship they built radiated from each brush stroke, as well as the sweat and enterprise becoming evident within the care and maintenance of every nook and cranny of the vessel by its crew.

The young woman started speaking to break the silence between them as they moved through the ship, "I ran into Alexis in the locker room earlier… That girl has issues. She walks into a room and there's this sudden chill, and everyone just can't seem to get out fast enough. I even see it in the mess hall, there's like at least five meters between her and anyone else. What is up with that?"

"It's because she's a psychopath," he answered nonchalantly, "It's an actual phenomenon around people like her. Some kind of primal instinct. Interestingly, women seem to sense it more often than men do. Make of that what you will."

"If that's true and not you just not liking her. How did she even get here?"

The man shrugged his shoulders, "She's a Knight of the North Star. We don't get to question it. Psychotic or not. She's a skilled pilot. If we respect nothing else about her, respect that at least."

"I don't get it. Why did the Prince have to pick this ship? As if we didn't have enough problems before His Highness and his attack dog came aboard!"

Dilis Vex looked down at his younger sister Jaden with a scrutinizing gaze that had her recoil her head and raise her eyebrows curiously. "What's that look for big bro?"

"I simply find it amazing that you would be the one to complain about 'all the problems' we have aboard this ship without taking a moment to give yourself any credit for the number of them which you yourself have caused or inspired," he said to her in a deadpan tone.

"I'm just humble like that!" she answered cheerfully.

Dilis instantly slapped his palm to his face with a loud groan. "You're a Knight… When are you going to ever start acting like it?"

With that said, Dilis began walking briskly down the hall of the ship in a vain attempt to leave his younger sister behind. Unfortunately for him, she was quick on her feet and managed to catch up and match his stride. Wearing a joyful expression she looked up at her older brother and started speaking in her brightest, most cheery tone of voice, "What's bugging ya? You're being an even bigger stick in the mud than usual. At this point I'd have to call you a 'log' in the mud!"

"Mostly things you don't need to be concerned with. Except my burning desire to see you take your position here more seriously. If you have nothing to do I'll be happy to give you something to do. Something which you probably won't like. And if you bitch and moan too much about it, I'll give you something else to do you'll like even less. So I suggest you go and at least try to look busy!"

Jaden started laughing hysterically at Dilis, "Ah ha ha! So a Prince takes over your command and now all you can do is boss around your little sister? Oh how the mighty have fallen!"

"That's it!" he yelled as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to fully face her. "You're going to mop up the flight deck! Get to it!"

"Yes My Lord!" she said while coming to attention and giving him a knightly salute with a fist over her heart. "Which flight deck shall I mop up? Port or starboard?" she asked cheerfully.

"Both. And if I hear a single complaint, or of a single incident, you're going EVA to pick micrometeorites out of the hull!"

"Understood! I'm sure you'll get everything worked out."

* * *

Dilis maintained his stiff and rigid posture as he walked into the brig. His head proud and high as he confidently approached the source of one of his three largest frustrations in life. The first of which was his younger sister. The second being the 'attack dog' of the third problem. Dilis stood beside the blonde woman and folded his arms across his chest. Cleansing his visage of all emotion to project the most authoritative aura he could muster. Alexis didn't even acknowledge his presence, but he wasn't putting on the show for her benefit. It was mostly to emphasise to his subordinates in the brig who their true commander is.

The Knight-Commander then turned his attention to the prison cell ahead of them, inside the small rectangular room was one of the marines staring down a crew member of the cargo vessel they intercepted. The young man was sweating bullets and his shirt was completely soaked. His hair was wet and spiky, as if he'd just emerged from the shower.

"Tell me about your passengers. You must know something about them!" the marine demanded in a forceful tone that left no doubt about how razor thin his patience was.

"I said I don't know anything alright! Those guys they kept to themselves. They didn't talk to any of the crew! And we didn't want to talk to any of them! Those guys were fucking creepy!"

"That's the second time you've said that. Tell me, how exactly were they creepy? Be specific!"

"Look, it's just a stupid rumor, but one crew member jumped ship at the Warsaw colony. Before he left, he said he saw one of them summon a fuckin' demon! He said they were devil worshipers and that we'd all be doomed if we kept them aboard. Well, here we are in the custody of the fucking Imperium, so maybe he was right?"

"What do you mean they summoned a demon?"

"Just that. He was shaking and hysterical. He started crossing himself and praying. Then the Chief Engineer smacked him across the face, that got him to his senses long enough to tell us what he saw and then he started freaking out again."

"Was there anything odd about your passengers that you personally saw?"

"That I personally saw? I don't know... Let me think."

"Think hard. Anything could be important. Anything abnormal. Any little thing could give us a clue about what made your crew mate freak out about them."

"There were a couple things. They all wore these necklaces. Had some coins on them, sort of like dog tags. But not. I heard someone say that those guys took off the coins and put 'em in their mouths before they offed themselves. I don't know if that's significant."

"It might be. Next question. Why did your Captain order that the ship's computers destroyed?"

"I don't know man! I'm just an apprentice engineer! I was just doing a trip on that ship for a mother fucking college credit! I just wanted to mind my own damn business, do my job, and go back to school!"

Dilis walked up to the brig and tapped on the bars to get their attention. "Hey. Those passengers of yours. Did you ever hear them speak?"

"Uhh, yeah? They talked to each other a lot during chow time. Why?" the young man asked in response.

"What language did they speak?"

"I honest to god have no idea. I ain't never heard it before."

"Thanks. Marine. Ask the rest of the crew about the language they spoke. See if anyone remembers any words or anything else useful about it."

Alexis looked at Dilis with her blank eyes when he turned to face her. "What's the significance of this?"

"If you knew anything, the coins were the give away. In ancient Greece, it was customary to give coins to the dead so they could pay for passage to the afterlife. There's only one place where this practice was revived. Do you know where that is?"

Alexis simply continued to stare blankly at him causing Dilis to sigh. "They were Plutons. If you want to find out more, start there."

"Plutons… Interesting. I'll report this to His Highness. We'll decide our next course of action," she replied coldly while turning and walking away without another word.

Dilis followed her with his annoyed eyes, "Yeah… You're welcome..."


	2. Pluto - Chapter One

**Chapter One  
** " **A City in the Underworld"**  
 _November 15, 755 I.C._

* * *

 **Volubilis**

 **Space Battle Station  
Crew:** 400

 **Location:** Shared orbit of Pluto with Hydra

Volubilis station is hundreds of years old and was the largest space station ever built at the time, dwarfed only by massive space colonies.

It was intended to be used as a hub for exploration of the Kuiper Belt. However, those plans were cut short due to a large scale interplanetary civil war.

When the fighting ended, interest in Kuiper Belt objects and resources diminished due to a boom in asteroid mining among the inner system belt.

The station was designed to accommodate over 2500 people, but today is manned by a skeleton crew of only 400.

* * *

Kirino Akiyama had the Knights under her command gathered on the flight deck. Over fifty Knights were paraded before her to listen and observe. With a heavy heart, her gaze passed over every person gathered, locking eyes momentarily with each of them in turn. For the most part each was a model of Knightly discipline. But there were a few bold exceptions who made no effort to hide their contempt for her with their eyes. Kirino was at the limit of her patience though. She had always done the best she could to be a good leader and earn the trust and respect of her Knights. But unfortunately, all her efforts amounted to was this moment.

The Knight-Commander stepped up proudly with a hand on the hilt of her sword. Unlike the rest of her Knights who wore the standard issue longsword to signify their status as members of the Order of the Dawn, Kirino wore an ancient Japanese Katana passed down through her family line.

At Kirino's feet was a kneeling man, bound with shackles to the ground. He was a shivering and sobbing mess. Nobody would make eye contact with him. Rather their eyes remained on their Commander who was, regardless of what anyone thought of her actions, an exotically beautiful woman. Her skin was pale, her eyes red as blood, and her hair long and straight in the so called princess style of her homeland. Her bangs perfectly straight and level with her eyes, side locks cut to cheek and shoulder length. Everything about her including the neatness of her uniform spoke to the precision with which she not only maintained her appearance, but also that with which she carried out her duties.

"Take no pity on this man before you. He has broken his oath as a Knight. He was brave enough to try and murder me after being caught stealing from our Emperor. But as you can all see, he is not brave enough to face the consequences…"

Kirino lowered her gaze to the kneeling man. His sobs growing increasingly louder. The mucus dripping from his nose. His head lowered and eyes tightly closed.

"Trent Halsey. I have found you guilty of conspiring to assassinate your commanding officer. Namely myself. Attempting to steal from tribute paid to the Emperor, and attempting to corrupt your fellow Knights. Until this moment you were a Knight of the Imperium. A proud member of the Order of the Dawn. You were tasked with upholding the ideals of our order, and our great Imperium. Your title is revoked. Your assets seized. Your family disgraced. The sentence is death..."

With that, she took a step back and readied herself. The man begged for his life. Pleaded with his comrades to intervene and save him. All of it fell on deaf ears. With one clean and fluid motion, Kirino drew her sword out, sliced through his neck and severed his head, then sheathed her sword once more and turned to face the Knights gathered to witness the execution.

"Let this be the first and last time I ever do this. You will renew your oaths before me!"

"Yes, Your Ladyship!" the Knights yelled in chorus. "I shall act only with valor! My heart shall know only virtue! My blade shall defend the helpless! My might shall uphold the meek! My words shall speak only truth! My wrath undoes the wicked! Forever more, my oath is my bond!"

"Don't forget it! You are all dismissed!"

* * *

Kirino stepped into her cabin and quickly shut the door behind her. After sealing it shut she leaned back against the hatch and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Shoulders shaking violently and her iron composure slowly crumbling bit by bit until she fell on her hands and knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Before she knew what was happening she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her soothingly and pull her into a warm embrace. Her head ended up resting against the bosom of her servant.

"I know it was difficult for you My Lady. But it had to be done. He tried to murder you," she said with a gentle voice to calm the woman in her arms.

"I've… Never taken a life before. But I couldn't hesitate. I wanted to. So badly. I wanted the soldiers to stop me. Or give me a reason not to. But nobody did. He cried, he begged, he pleaded. But I couldn't listen to him. I just silenced him by cutting off his head…"

"You did your duty My Lady. You have nothing to feel badly for."

"It still feels so horrible," she muttered while wrapping her around around her servant and holding her tightly.

"I think that just means you're a good person. I don't think anyone with a heart as good as yours could kill without remorse. No matter the circumstances."

"Thank you… Thank you so much."

"There's nothing to thank me for My Lady. My duty is to see to your well being. Just as your duty is to see to the wellbeing of everyone here. I've made tea for you. Why don't you have a seat and enjoy it comfortably while I prepare a bath for you?"

Kirino pulled back and took a deep breath to recompose herself, she then smiled into her servant's bright blue eyes, she was such a sweet, considerate and lovely young girl, with short pink hair. Always elegantly dressed, and always took her job just as seriously as Kirino took her own. "Thank you, Kiku. I appreciate it. But let's forgo the bath this time."

"Forgive me My Lady. May I ask why? I thought you enjoyed taking baths."

"I do. But, that doesn't mean I should do it every day. Down on Pluto they don't have water to waste so frivolously. So I don't think I should either."

Kiku raised an eyebrow at that statement, "That's a very considerate point of view My Lady. To be blunt though, I think it's wasted. Being sympathetic to the reality of life on my home world is very noble of you. But such a display of solidarity is wasted by virtue of the fact that you do have access to such luxuries, where they do not. So instead of feeling guilty about it, you should instead just be thankful for it. So please have your tea while I go draw the bath. Alright?"

Kirino couldn't help but smile and quickly nod. "You win this round. Thank you for setting me straight."

"I consider it part of my duty here. Nothing to thank me for," she answered with a smile.

While Kirino was having her tea a chime rang at the door way. When she opened it to see who was there she found one of the communications officers standing ready with printed message for her which she took and returned his salute before closing the door and returning to her seat.

Kiku suddenly appeared in a hurry headed for the door, "I already got it," said Kirino as she sat on the couch and started unfolding the letter.

"Apologies My Lady… I'll try not to be so careless in the future," said Kiku with a bow to Kirino.

"There's nothing to apologize for. I'm not a cripple. I'm perfectly capable of getting the door on my own. You don't have to do _everything_ for me."

"Nevertheless. I apologize. Your bath will be ready shortly," she said before turning to return to the bathroom.

"Kiku. If you have a moment, I have a question for you," she said while reading the message she received over again.

Kiku stopped and walked over to Kirino with her hand held neatly in front of her, "Yes my lady?"

"Have you ever heard of anyone on Pluto being extensively implanted with cybernetics?"

Kiku raised a single pink eyebrow at that question, "Cybernetics? You mean such as those that replace lost limbs?"

"Yes. According to a message I just received, Prince Leon intercepted a ship that was going to Venus. There were several Plutons aboard who committed suicide rather than be captured. According to them, these people were extensively implanted with cybernetics for reasons unknown. And that's all they've told me here. I've been asked to find out more about these men."

Kiku nodded her understanding, "I see. To the best of my knowledge such extensive implants would be prohibitively expensive. People on Pluto don't exactly have disposable income in amounts anywhere near that."

"You have a point. But if someone did, could it be done?"

"Not on Pluto. No," said Kiku in a firm voice. "There's no such thing as an elective medical procedure here. Everything medically related has to be authorized by the Ministry of Health. They'd never authorize something like that. Replacing a worker's lost limb so he can continue to work and provide for society isn't the same as what you describe."

Kirino slowly nodded and then looked over the information she'd been given once again, "So if they didn't have this done on Pluto. Where was it done? And more importantly why?"

"I think the best you could hope to do is learn something about who these people were and why they left here. But just as important as the why is the how. You see, on Pluto it is forbidden for people to leave without permission from the government. The thinking is that if you take from the state, you must give back to the state something of equal value. Taking a state funded education for example and using it somewhere which does not benefit the people of Pluto is considered a grave offense."

Kirino widened her eyes at her pink haired servant, "Are you serious? Don't the people have any rights at all?"

"We have many rights. However taking and not giving something in exchange is like stealing is it not?"

"You would think. But this isn't the same thing. I guess I have a lot to learn before I can really comment. I'd like to begin by setting up an appointment to see the Administrator and ask her to give me access to records and whatever resources I'll need for an investigation. But she's been very reclusive recently. So I just hope she'll meet with me."

"You mean you want to actually go down there in person?" Asked Kiku with a brow raised.

"Something wrong with that? The more you tell me about what it's like there, the more I want to go and see it for myself and actually learn something more than what's in the books I have around here. This is the first good opportunity I've had to get away from the station since I've been in command."

Kiku shrugged her shoulders, "She's been in a very deep depression since her husband passed away. But I'm sure she'll agree to meet with you."

"I feel bad about bothering her with this but…"

"But you must do your duty. She will understand."

Kirino sat back in her seat as the thoughts swirled through her mind when she decided to ask a different but important question to help her begin to grasp her situation. "The people of Pluto. How do you feel about your rulers?"

"To which rulers are you referring My Lady? The Technocrats on Pluto who work all day everyday to allocate our resources and ensure our continued existence? Or the Aristocrats in the Earth Sphere who take the things we shed blood sweat and tears to gather as taxes?"

Kirino sighed deeply and leaned back in her couch, "I suppose that's a question I need to be better prepared for… I don't make the rules."

"And indeed you should My Lady. You can expect much harsher questions on Pluto. But I'm confident you'll be fine."

"Dear Kiku, I love how your glass is always half full."

"By now your bathtub is completely full. So I suggest you make use of it."

"Yes. Of course," said Kirino with a bright smile to her servant as she rose up from the couch.

* * *

 **Pluto**

 **Ruled by:** Administrator Melanie Asteria and Council of Ministers  
 **Population:** 2.3 million  
 **Number of Cities/Settlements:** 26

 **Capital:** Hades

The people of Pluto and Charon are collectively known as Plutons. It has one of the smallest populations in the Sol system. Plutons are known for being resourceful. From a young age they are taught to always do more with less. Everything they build is made to last.

Pluto is ruled using a Technocratic system where each individual is assigned to what they are considered most suited to do based on their academic performance and demonstrated aptitude during their formative years. Due to their reputation as hardworking people, it is widely believed that Pluto has nothing to offer travelers for recreation. But as many traders have discovered, that is not entirely true.

* * *

In the oldest part of the city of Hades was a small temple where a young girl knelt humbly before a statue. There she presented an offering of garlic into a receptacle before straightening herself up in her kneeling position. After a brief moment to compose herself she clasped her hands to pray.

The temple was carved from stone directly into a wall of the underground city. Torches and candles unevenly lit the small space where she and a few other worshipers gathered to make their offerings and prayers. The temple smelled of herbs, and there was also the particularly overpowering scent of garlic from the many such offerings made throughout the day.

The young girl didn't seemed bothered at all by the environment and took a deep breath before beginning her prayer in a polite, humble, and reverent tone of voice. "My goddess, I beg you accept this humble offering and grant your blessings upon my home, my family, and my friendships."

As the young girl made her prayer, another young girl with long black hair stood directly behind her with her arms folded under her breasts. Her face was etched into a contemptuous glare, her sapphire eyes directed at the kneeling girl before her.

"Are you finished yet Akemi? I hate being here. I will never understand you Plutons and your stupid paganism."

Akemi sighed before looking up into the eyes of the statue before her, "I know I've asked a lot of you. But could you please do me a solid and forgive her? She can't help being a smug and arrogant Martian. Between us, I think it's sexy. But if you feel the urge to smite her, I'd ask you not to. At least not until I've had a chance to... you know," she said with a coy wink to the statue of the goddess.

"You are such a pervert, you know that right? And isn't that some kind of blasphemy?"

"Don't be like that Mercedes. I don't openly admit my attractions to just anyone you know. You should feel proud that you and Hecate are the only two in whom I would confide such things," chastised Akemi while standing up and straightening out her clothing.

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't swing that way?!" Mercedes fumed at her.

Akemi grinned mischievously at the raven haired girl before her, "I suffer from selective hearing. It's a pretty serious disability,"

Mercedes turned around and started walking brusquely out of the increasingly claustrophobic temple until she was finally outside in the street. All around her were buildings carved from rock in the underground capital city. Quarters were tight and the homes were all modest, especially in this part of Hades where Akemi grew up. The temple was not far from her friend's home, but why she allowed the shorter girl to bring her to this place, she still had no idea.

When Akemi caught up to her after finishing whatever it was she had left to do inside the temple, the pair sauntered up the dusty rock carved street towards the monorail station. Mercedes turned her head and looked down at her friend who was a head shorter than her. She had long lavender hair down to her middle back, her face was framed neatly with bangs, and hair running down the sides of her face over her shoulders. Akemi was pale skinned just like every other Pluton. Her skin had probably never been touched by sunlight her whole life but it didn't detract from her looks and even with her lack of womanly assets, she was probably the most beautiful girl in this neighborhood. If Akemi weren't so insufferably sassy, she'd probably be able to get any girl she wanted. Well, except for Mercedes herself, as she had to repeatedly make clear for as long as she'd known her.

"Do you really believe in this stuff? Gods, goddesses, and what not?"

Akemi reached down the front of her jacket and pulled out a necklace which had two simple coins hanging from it and showed it off to her taller raven haired friend with a simple nod.

"You study science, technology, mathematics, history, and philosophy for fun! How can you also be a... _pagan_?" asked Mercedes with barely concealed contempt in her voice.

"First. I'd thank you not to use that word," said Akemi with a sterner tone than the taller girl was used to hearing from her. The two stopped in their tracks and faced each other where Mercedes offered a quiet apology without saying any words. Akemi seemed to accept the silent apology and then continued on to answer,

"As for your question. I like it. I like Hecate. Making offerings and praying to her gives me this feeling of comfort. She's the goddess of things that matter to me. She's a protective goddess. She grants blessings on the home and family. She's the goddess of friendships as well. I also like having these coins handy. They remind me that I'm a Pluton, and that I've been welcomed and embraced by this society. Be it a religious obligation, or simply a tradition. I like it. Is that enough for you?"

Mercedes shrugged, "I still think it's stupid. But I'll keep my mouth shut about it if it'll make you happy."

"I can think of a lot of better ways in which you could make me, _very_ happy," said Akemi with a sly grin.

"Get your stupid head out of the gutter!"

"You should join me in there sometime. It's a lot of fun!"

"Whatever… I suppose you can't help being a vertically, mentally, and mammary challenged Pluton," said Mercedes in a venomous tone while pointing to Akemi's flat chest.

Akemi grinned at the taller girl, "And you, can't help being an unbelievably fiery hot and equally hot tempered Martian that makes me hot and bothered every time you insult me,"

Mercedes rolled her eyes and started walking down the street towards the monorail station again, "Why do I even bother to hang out with you? All you ever do is troll me!"

"Aww, come on Mercedes! I'm _not_ trolling you! Well. Alright, maybe I troll you a little. But why can't you just accept the fact that I do actually _like_ you?"

Mercedes plugged her ears and started walking briskly while yelling behind her, "Lalalalalala! Can't hear you! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Damn it. Almost got you to come over and meet my parents this time… Oh well. Next time for sure!" said a grinning Akemi to herself.

As Akemi turned to leave her eyes immediately fell upon a group of people gathering around a man standing on a metal box who began passionately addressing those gathered. She slowly walked closer just in case it was something that could bring trouble from the authorities down upon them, but to her relief it wasn't going to be anything like that when she heard the first words uttered.

"In the beginning there was war! Then they came to power!" The man yelled while pointing upwards. "The Imperium descended upon the good Earth like a plague! Conquered all! And cast out those who refused them! Our ancestors."

The crowd excitedly nodded in agreement while Akemi folded her arms with an amused smirk on her face.

"They were cast off their homeworld and forced out into the great unknown, to either build this place we now stand in, or die trying. With their blood sweat and tears they labored to build themselves a home where they could live in peace and security! But the Imperium wasn't finished with them yet! Our colony was colonized! Our people once again used as forced labor to fuel the Imperium! They were suffering all forms of oppression, exploitation, degradation, humiliation, discrimination, and every other kind of -ation! The imperialist Terran nation have made us slaves in our own homes! They force us to work for them instead of ourselves! To sell them our valuable resources in exchange for currency which we must then give back to the imperialists as taxation for the continuation of our subjugation,

"But there is a way out! Rise up and join with us! If you tremble with indignation at every degradation, humiliation, and discrimination inflicted upon us by the Terran nation then join us in the struggle for the liberation and self-determination of the Pluton nation! Take a look around and see that you have nothing to lose but your chains! Everyone has their own particular part to play in the struggle! No part is too great or too small; no one is too old or too young to do something! Brothers and sisters! The final hour of the Imperium is coming! When it strikes! Billions in the colonies will rise up to meet a new life! And demand their unrestricted right to self-determination! Come! Join us now! Join the Alliance! Don't work in slavery! Fight for liberty! Because those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable!"

Akemi clapped her hands along with the people and started walking away with a cheerful smile when she saw two men step out of the cheering crowd and started making a show of escorting him away with his hands gently behind his back. The public disturbance he caused was his only crime. Spreading anti-imperium propaganda was illegal, but not actually enforced. He'd be back again. He always was. The only thing Akemi wished would change were his rhymes.

* * *

Akemi pushed open the front door to her home and stepped through the threshold. Once inside she took off her shoes and left them neatly aside before stepping up into the house and into some slippers along the way while loudly announcing herself, "I'm home!"

As if on cue a young boy rushed out to greet her by jumping on her and attaching himself to her torso. "Ooof! You're getting too heavy for me to hold you like this. Keep this up and I'll have to call you my big little brother," she said with amusement.

"Onee-san! My computer is being funny. Could you fix it?"

Akemi laughed for a moment at her younger brother's enthusiasm while contemplating the request, "Sure thing! Let's take a look after dinner, alright?"

"Thank you!" said the young boy as she set him down and then ran off.

Akemi snickered to herself while leaning against the wall to watch her younger brother run up the stairs of their modest home. "Was I that way when I was his age?" she asked while looking around the corner at her father.

"Not really. You weren't much older than him when we adopted you. Back then you were a quiet child. Though you grew up into a loud and energetic young woman," was the man's answer.

"Well behaved women seldom make history, expect great things from me!" Declared Akemi with a grin.

"We do. I just wish it didn't include occasionally getting you out of jail."

"That wasn't my fault!"

Her father stared at her with a stern look, silently telling her to admit the whole story to herself.

"Alright. It wasn't _completely_ my fault. I just forgot how to use my _inside_ voice."

* * *

Mercedes gazed thoughtfully out at the city from her seat on the monorail. Her reflection greeted her there, but it was translucent enough that she could see through her own eyes the underground city of Hades. The dim lights emanating from the buildings seemed to sparkle in her deep blue eyes. Her charcoal hair left only the faintest outline, and also the clearest view through to the city. Even her ivory skin seemed to glimmer in her reflection.

The Plutons themselves exuded discipline and perfectionism. Traits she herself aspired to every day of her life on Mars. The language was very difficult though. Every colony had its own language or dialect, but Pluton was quite possibly the hardest. She looked up at some of the signs placed throughout the cabin of the monorail car she was riding in and struggled to sound out the words in her head. Pluton may as well be an alien language as far as the rest of the solar system was concerned.

One thing she couldn't deny about the language though, the calligraphy was beautiful. Akemi was especially good at it and helped her learn the language after she arrived. But getting over their language barrier was no simple task. Mercedes had wanted to rip the short girl's head off many times in their early days.

But Akemi was nothing if not persistent. Obsessive even. Once that girl set her mind to a task, there was no getting in her way. The city of Hades had one thing that few other colonies were fortunate enough to have. A massive library. Akemi had spent days there learning to speak Martian.

Mercedes started cracking up at the memory of that day. Akemi made such a fool of herself. Since there simply wasn't a Pluton to Martian dictionary in existence, she had to learn how to translate Pluton into English, the most common spoken language in the Imperium, and then translate that to Martian. The end result made just enough sense for Mercedes to understand that Akemi was trying to make friends with her, but was so badly spoken and so completely broken that Mercedes couldn't help but laugh.

"Excuse me young lady," said a deep male voice from beside her.

Mercedes turned her head and looked up at the man. She'd been so distracted by her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed there was anyone else around her.

"I need to see some identification," he said to her.

For every good thing about Pluto, there was a bad thing. Mercedes sighed to herself as she reached into the thick coat she wore around herself for warmth and pulled out the identification card that was requested of her and hastily handed it over to the man. The first bad thing she mused, was the cold. Mars was cold, but Pluto was a different kind of cold. This far from the sun, and in a city this large, it was hard enough to maintain enough breathable air. Keeping everything warm enough was simply impossible. It was always just warm enough to keep everything from freezing over. So people here had to always dress warmly.

Then, there were people like this uniformed man who was presently checking her identification. Pluto wasn't the most liberal place in the Solar system. Maintaining a strict society required an even stricter police force.

"You're out past curfew young lady. I'm going to have to issue a fine."

Mercedes shook her head in frustration while the man pulled out a palm sized computer device and inserted her identification card into a slot. After a few moments the fine was issued and the money deducted from her account. "This is your second violation Miss Verdin. Being out this late while under age is a crime. You know what will happen if you should get caught a third time correct?"

"I know what you think will happen. Yes," she answered snidely.

"I don't know how it was on Mars, but you're on Pluto now! Disrespecting your elders is considered very rude. There should be a fine for that too."

"Too bad their isn't then. Guess you'll just have to deal with it."

"I hope you realize you're a hair away from being taken to the Mystasty on suspicion of subversive behavior. Not getting your citizenship will be the least of your worries if you don't start minding your manners."

Every instinct in her was screaming at her to stick it to the man. Every part of her Martian upbringing told her not to take this from him. But this wasn't Mars. On Pluto, these were the people in charge. So she had to swallow her pride and do the only thing she could do.

"I'm sorry…" she said through tightly clenched teeth.

"That's better," he said while handing her back her card. "Do hurry home. And try not to get another fine before you get there."

Mercedes took her card and put it away. Then turned back to the window with an irritated huff and crossed her arms. She had no idea how Akemi sassed her way out of these situations but she decided to start taking notes.

* * *

Dennis Riley sat in a dusty old armchair across from an older man in his mid forties. Between them was a small table with a clay jug of freshly distilled alcohol and a pair of dirty looking shot glasses. Surrounding them was a room full of what Dennis would describe as used people. The lowest of the low. Mechanics, janitors, technicians, there was even a priest in the room holding a bag of coins with a nervous expression on his face.

"Tell me something Riley. How does a young man with so much good fortune end up so miserable?"

He contemplated that question while spinning the cylinder. "You're asking a question based on a false premise," he finally said with disinterest. Riley quickly flipped the cylinder into the pistol. Without an iota of hesitation he brought the gun up to his temple. All eyes in the room widened as he squeezed the trigger. The silence was deafening. All that could be heard in that moment was the crackling of the torches illuminating the room and finally the click of the pistol as the hammer struck. This was quickly followed by mix of happy cheers and disappointed grumbles as money changed hands around the room.

"So what is the correct premise for the question then?" asked the man seated opposite to Riley as he took the pistol from him and began spinning the cylinder.

"You incorrectly assumed that I'm fortunate. They say they want Pluto to be free of the Imperium. What about us? If we break away from the Imperium, what does that give us the freedom to do exactly? What would be different? All the important decisions in our lives will still be made for us. So what's the point?"

The older man looked over the younger man across from him with renewed curiosity. His eyes lingered upon him as the cylinder spun with its monotonous metallic sound.

"Take your time. There's no rush," said Dennis while pouring himself a shot and chugging it down without his icy cool face breaking from the after burn.

The older man chuckled to himself and began speaking to him, "He wasn't even out of his twenties but his dark brown eyes carried world weariness beyond his years. From his scalp protruded traces of stubble adding darker tones to his lazily shaved head. His once white vest now smeared in the grime of sweat and liquor. Turning it a hundred different shades. His face betrayed his disinterest in the man speaking to him as he casually waited for the game to continue without a trace of emotion in the many lines which appeared before their time."

Dennis slightly raised his eyebrow at the man, "What are you a writer?"

"I wanted nothing more than to be one. But you're right. It's pointless. This little game represents the only real freedom anyone here really has," said the other man while pointing the gun at the side of his head and quickly pulling the trigger with a big smile on his face. Instantly, with a loud bang, the bullet passed through his temple and out the other side of his head splattering blood all over the people closest to him. The bullet only just missing a spectator as it became embedded in the stone wall.

Dennis watched as the blood and brain matter sprayed out of his head. But what fascinated him the most was the serene expression on the man's face. Even as blood poured out of his nose and mouth the smile remained intact.

After the moment of silence and the exchange of winnings among the crowd, a group of men came over to remove the corpse. One of the men started by closing his eyes, and then took the coins from his necklace and placed them in his bloody mouth before carrying him away.

"So what's your trick Riley? That's the tenth game in a row you've won. How do you do it?"

Dennis sighed at the question before looking up at the much older and graying man. His eyes first sighted the blood splatter upon his janitorial uniform, and then followed it all up to the man's eyes, blood spots all over his wrinkled and weathered face. Then, Dennis grinned at the older man, and addressed him in the coldest and most indignant voice the elderly janitor had ever heard from such a young man, "I'm just unlucky, that's all there is to it."

* * *

Efren Valerio stood at the threshold of a large room, all around were computer desks where over fifty people were hard at work. Each screen that he could see had various components of mobile suits on them. At the center of the room was the person he'd come to see. She was standing in front of a holographic display of the latest mobile suit being developed in this design studio. Hands glowing brightly as she manipulated the various components of the machine in real time to simulate their performance.

He casually stepped through the busy room avoiding the designers who were moving about while paying attention to nothing but their work, even while walking around. Efren was always amused by how he'd have to navigate this obstacle course to reach her whenever he wanted to pay a visit. As if the gods were mocking him with a small test of his devotion and determination.

Finally he was standing just a few steps behind her. Just far enough away that he could take in every inch of her beauty from head to toe. Her hair was like fire when combined with the glow of the hologram before her. Her slender frame accented by glowing green lines flowing with light moving up and down her exposed limbs. Her hair tied neatly with black ribbons featuring purple outlines sticking up like neat little leaves on a tree. Her twin tails reaching down to her waist made him almost want to grab and pull them to get her attention. But he did not wish to break her intense concentration. At least not that way.

He stepped over beside her just far enough ahead that he could see her serene expression. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated on her work. Her mind interfacing with the computers to bring her visions to reality. The blueish tint of the holographic light on her alabaster skin was a vision he wanted to burn into his mind. In her mouth was a pen she was presently chewing hard on while her eyelids closed even more tightly as she seemed to come to a difficult or just stubborn component.

Efren knew this was the moment to snap her out of it or else there would be consequences for the rest of the staff. But how to go about it? He always tried to be creative about getting her attention, especially when she was this intensely focused. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered; "Hey Nibbler," to her softly and then put his index finger into his mouth and thoroughly wet it before inserting it into her ear canal.

The young girl's hands suddenly stopped glowing and the holographic display shut off as she covered her ear and fell down to her knees while struggling to clean it out with her sleeve. "Eeew! Efren! Why would you do that to me?!"

"Heh. Apologies my dear Apollonia. Let's just call it, an experiment."

The young girl timidly stood up and faced the man with wary eyes. "May I inquire about your findings?"

"Interesting. But inconclusive. I need more data," he said to her with an amused smirk on his face.

"Dare I ask what you have in mind for a follow up experiment?" she asked nervously.

"My plan was to take you out to dinner. Provided you're not planning to spend the night in here again working on… Whatever it is you're working on. What are you working on anyway?"

Apollonia smiled at his genuine interest and held her hand out to the holographic display. The implants beneath her skin began to glow in a circuit print pattern and then the display came to life once again. Efren studied the mobile suit for a long while before looking at Apollonia for an explanation.

"It's a new mobile suit design that we're sending to our allies on Mars. Right now they're using converted heavy construction suits for their military."

"What are we getting out of this deal?"

"You'll have to ask my mother. I try to avoid the politics as much as possible."

"You should take more of an interest in these things. But we'll talk about that another time. So tell me what you've got here?" he said while gesturing to the mobile suit.

"I call it the Bellerophon, designed for mass production using the resources available on Mars."

"I take back what I said. You do know how to do politics."

"I was worried that might go right over people's heads. I hope they get the message too."

"I'm sure they will."

"Anyway. It has a shoulder mounted railgun and it carries a fully automatic one-twenty millimeter assault rifle. Well, more like a canon with that calibre, but, in mobile suit terms, it's a rifle..."

"It doesn't seem to have a flight pack. So it's a ground pounder?"

"No. It has thrusters for space which double as jump jets in gravity. But you're right, it can't fly on its own. We're not giving them our power source, and we had to design them something that doesn't rely on Helium-3. So it's powered by a hybrid system which uses fossil fuels and a battery pack. They use a lot of fossil fuels for their terraformers so we determined it would be convenient for them. The unit won't generate enough power on its own for flight with these systems, so we also developed a sub flight lifter for it which we call-"

"Pegasus?"

"Is this not subtle enough?" she wondered while chewing her pen.

"No. It's perfect. I assure you," said a proudly smiling Efren. "You're truly blessed by Hephaestus himself my love. I couldn't be more proud of you and the work you do."

"Thank you. I appreciate it," she said while stepping in to hug him.

* * *

Back in her home, up in her room, Akemi sat at the dull metallic work desk in her room with her little brother in her lap. On the desk in front of them was a portable computer which the boy used in his education. Akemi held her hand out over the device and concentrated on it. A purple glow emanating from under her skin as she mentally interfaced with the computer and worked to diagnose the problem.

"So what's wrong with it? Is it going to be alright? Was it my fault? I don't want to get in trouble at school!"

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out. Has there ever been a problem I couldn't fix?"

"No way! Onee-san is a super genius!"

"I prefer the term 'super villain' myself."

"But you're not bad!"

"Not to you. But ask my friends sometime, they'll tell you how evil I really am," answered Akemi with a cheerful laugh.

"Onee-san? Which was the first ever library?"

"Trying to pick my brain for your homework questions again? You know that's sort of cheating right?"

"But if the computer's broken, I can't find the answers. And you're better than the computer. You know everything!"

"I don't know _everything_ , I just know stuff that nobody else seems to care about. But I learned everything I know in the library. Which is where you should spend more time. If you want to be like me, study hard. That way you won't end up cleaning the streets or shoveling poop into a recycler."

"Haha! You said poop!"

"Yes. I did. Contrary to what they'll tell you in school it's not a job you want. But I suppose that isn't something an eight year old needs to worry about. To answer your question, it depends. Do you mean the first library on Pluto? Or the first one ever?"

"First one ever!"

"Sumeria. But it wasn't exactly a library as we know it. They used that to keep receipts and stuff."

"Like the box mom keeps with all those little papers from the stores?"

"Exactly. The first real library as we know it was in a place called Alexandria."

"How do you know all this stuff Onee-san?"

"The library. Wasn't that obvious?"

"Alright. Here's a really hard one! If you secretly watch someone walking up our street, does watching them change which way they'll go?"

"Hmm… Did the person give a tribute to Hecate before going in either direction?"

The little boy put a hand on his chin and huffed in confusion. "Uhh… I don't think that was in the question. Is it important?"

"Yes. When you're at a crossroad, what did I teach you to always do?"

"I should always acknowledge Hecate and ask for her blessing?"

"Correct. Now to answer your question. No. Secretly watching someone doesn't change how they behave in any way shape or form. Do you know why?"

"But my teacher told me that if you observe anything you change it."

"That's not always true. It is in Quantum Mechanics. Because what you need to see a particle changes how the particle acts. It's really complicated. But to make it simple, the 'Observer Effect' only applies to things that are really really small. But with things that are big, no, observing them has no effect on them. Unless they know you're watching them. In which case, yes, that will change how they act."

"I don't understand. So is my teacher wrong?"

"No. Your teacher isn't wrong. This will all eventually make sense to you. But for now. I think I figured out what's wrong with your computer. Tell me if I'm right. You, or one of your friends, tried to reprogram the O.S. to let you play games during class. Am I right?"

The boy looked around the room in silence. Akemi's hand stopped glowing and she used it to pat her little brother's head. "I'm not going to get mad at you. I just want you to understand that it isn't right to be trying to change your computer's programming. It was made to help you learn and that's what it wants you to use it for. It got sick because you tried to change the way it works."

"But computers don't get sick! They aren't even alive. They just do what we tell them to do right?"

"Not true. Computers aren't any different from people. Power flows through their circuits the same way blood flows through your veins. Your computer's processor is no different than your brain. You wouldn't want me messing with your head to try and make you do something you wouldn't normally do. Would you?"

"Yeah. I got it. I'm sorry," he answered with disappointment.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to…" she said while gesturing to the computer.

"Akemi? Hideaki? It's getting late. You should get some sleep," came a voice from the doorway behind them.

Akemi swiveled her chair towards the door and both siblings waved at the older woman standing there. "But I still need to finish my homework. My computer was broke!"

"Don't worry, go get cleaned up and I'll help you get it done," said Akemi while softly patting the boy's head.

"Thank you Onee-san!" the boy yelled ecstatically while running off.

Akemi stood up and regarded her mother with her hands neatly in front of her while her brother left the room, "Mother? Do you have a moment?"

"I always have a moment for you. What is it?" the woman asked while stepping into the room.

"Have you ever been in love with someone you knew you weren't suppose to be in love with?"

The woman raised an eyebrow at her daughter, "A question you don't already know the answer to? This is new."

Akemi shrugged without saying anything.

"The answer is yes. Before I met your father there was another man, but he was already with someone. Meeting your father solved everything. So my advise, just hang in there and you'll be fine."

Akemi nodded and hugged the woman, "Thank you. I hope you're right."

* * *

 **November 19th, 755 I.C.**

* * *

 **Volubilis**

In her stateroom, Kirino stood in front of a mirror in her formal uniform, with fine precision she pinned and adjusted her decorations. She then adjusted her jacket and went over it all with a critical eye looking for even the slightest hint of a loose thread or other imperfection. Every shadow made her nervous because it looked at first glance as if it were a stain upon the creamy white uniform.

Meanwhile her servant Kiku polished the scabbard of her ancient sword to an immaculate shine and looked up at her employer with an irate expression. "My Lady. I can assure you, the uniform is pristine. The only imperfections you're going to find are on the inside."

"What?! You mean there's a stain inside my jacket? What if it shows through?!"

Kiku stood up and grabbed Kirino by the belt to shake her into holding still while she tucked the sword neatly under it. "No. I mean the imperfection is _you_ _yourself._ Stop fussing or you'll wrinkle your face as well as your jacket! It took us an hour to get your makeup just right so don't get yourself nervously sweaty and smear it before you've even gone to your meeting."

Kirino nodded and adjusted her sword, making sure she looked just right in the mirror once again, and then again, and then she started squinting at some detail before Kiku gently pushed her away from the mirror. "You're fussing again."

"Sorry. I can't help being nervous. The more I read about her, the more I'm dying to meet her."

"She's a human being My Lady. Just like you. The more you idolize her in your mind the more nervous you'll make yourself and the more of a fool you'll risk making yourself. Just relax and be yourself. I have no doubt in my mind that she'll like you."

The Knight-Commander took a very deep breath and exhaled quickly in a sign to her servant that she was indeed taking her advice. "Alright. I think I'm ready to do this. Are you ready?"

Kiku nodded and looked to the mirror to make sure she was still in a presentable state, "Yes My Lady. But I'm still wondering why you insisted that I accompany you."

"It's perfectly acceptable for a Knight-Commander to bring her attendant with her to such a function."

"I believe you mean 'adjutant' not attendant."

"That's one interpretation. I don't have an adjutant. Even if I did, I still trust you more than any of the Knights under my command here. Were it up to me I'd replace the lot of them, but I can't."

"I'm still a Pluton my Lady. You shouldn't trust me so much," she said to the Knight-Commander with a serious voice.

Kirino returned the serious glare with one of her own, "Is there a specific reason why I shouldn't trust you?"

"No My Lady. That wasn't what I was implying."

"Then what were you implying?"

"Only that you should be careful who you trust with what. I'm a Pluton, so my interests could be their interests and not necessarily yours."

Kirino stepped over to the younger girl and grasped her shoulders to turn her so they stood face to face, "I trust you to be my guide down there. All I know about it is what I've read about, and what you've told me about it. I need you now more than ever. I can't do my job here unless I'm able to learn how to be just like a Pluton. And there's also the fact that you're my only friend," she said to her sternly with a serious look in her eyes. "So please stop talking this way."

Kiku in turn looked down and felt her cheeks heat up at the proximity and the look in Kirino's eyes directed at her. "I appreciate it my Lady. I too respect you very much."

"It's not quite the same thing Kiku. I suppose we'll have to work on that. Shall we get going then?"

Kiku quickly nodded, "Yes, we don't want to be late."

* * *

 **Hades**

Hours later, Kirino and Kiku stepped off their transport shuttle in the underground city of Hades. Despite expectations, they were warmly welcomed by a small security force and a young woman named Apollonia Asteria, along with a man she introduced as her fiance, Efren Valerio. Kirino's first impression was that he was a perfect gentlemen. However his manners were perhaps too polite because it made Apollonia visibly jealous. The young lady was polite, but she was very shy and reserved. That much was clear to Kirino.

But when Efren started acting just a little bit friendlier than protocol would normally require, there was a shift in her demeanor that only other women would probably recognize. Especially ones who had been in her place before. The man was trying to make her jealous. Probably for no reason other than to see if she cared enough to feel that way. It wasn't something to mention now though. But Kirino knew to make a mental note of it incase the opportunity for girl talk presented itself later. After all, developing a good relationship with the daughter of Pluto's Administrator would be of immeasurable value to her.

From the spaceport, they were taken by means of an electric car towards the Administrator's residence. Security seemed so lax that Kirino almost regretted not bringing any Knights along with her except for the four who escorted her ship in their mobile suits. 'Almost' was because she knew that if she had, she'd probably still wish for more Pluton guards to protect her from her own Knights. Much to Kirino's surprise, it was Kiku who asked the question of their hosts.

"I realize it's been awhile since you were last here Miss Kiku. But I assure you, no matter what opinion the people have about the Imperium, and their Knights, as long as you're here as our guests, nobody would even consider harming you. We wouldn't stand for it. So please be at ease, you're perfectly safe and under our complete protection," said Efren with his most charming tone of voice which only made Apollonia even more visibly uncomfortable.

Kirino had to admit, had this man not been engaged, she'd probably be flirting back to him by now. He was well dressed in spite of the utilitarian nature of his clothing. His hair seemed unruly but it still suited him. His brown eyes were striking to gaze into and forced both women to avoid eye contact as much as possible. His figure was tight and well toned and he had charisma in spades.

Both Kirino and Kiku had to take a moment to look over Apollonia once again who certainly looked cute with her long red hair in ribbon tied twintails. She had red eyes to match her hair, but overall, she was still only cute. It was simply proof of how unfair life could be. Such as in the case of this otherwise ordinary looking girl being engaged to a man whom, as far as Kirino was concerned, was a very strong contender for the title of the most desirable man in the solar system. His competition could probably only come from one of the younger Terran Princes. But the scions of the Imperial royal family only had their bloodline to give them desirability. This man sitting across from them in the car didn't need royal blood to make even a Knight-Commander like Kirino hot and bothered with nothing but a few words and good manners.

Kirino turned her full attention to city outside the window. Space colonies had systems to simulate a proper day and night cycle. But she was amazed by how dark and gloomy this city looked. There was very little illumination in the streets. The houses had electricity, but the lights were were all dim. Whatever electric lighting there was seemed to be set to the lowest light levels, providing only just enough light to help people focus and see what needed to be seen. Looking up at the top of the large underground cavern, she could see nothing but inky blackness. It compelled her to begin asking questions and hope it wouldn't be considered rude of her.

"People don't use anything unless they have to. Waste nothing. Do more with less. Build things that last. Those are our guiding principles," explained Kiku, drawing nods from Apollonia and Efren.

Kirino looked down at the floor of the car and humbled her demeanor, "I wish people on Earth would think that way. It's disgusting how little regard we have for our environment with our rampant consumerism. Especially after the generations of work it took to clean up the planet from the centuries of industrialization."

"Why are Terrans so materialistic then?" Asked the redhead with a timid voice.

"I wish I had the answer to that," she replied in a resigned tone of voice.

"For what it's worth. Dame Kirino is always mindful of these things for herself. She tries her best not to use more than she needs."

Efren smiled brightly, "I'm sure we didn't mean to imply that she was personally responsible for the behavior of all Terrans."

Apollonia quickly nodded at Efren. "Yes. He's right. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, and I apologize for that. None of what I said is your fault, and I didn't mean to imply it was. It's just frustrating because, when we make a mistake here, if we don't use our resources wisely it becomes an immediate problem for us. It's never a problem for later generations that we don't have to think about or even live to see. If our crops fail, we will all suffer. If our water becomes contaminated beyond our ability to clean, we would all die. To say nothing of our air, gravity, and environmental systems. We have to think about the consequences of everything we do. A simple typo in a software update can doom us all."

"That's why your people established a Technocratic system right? Because everyone doing the work has to be the best they can be or else."

Apollonia nodded, "Exactly. Others look at our system and cry about how unfair it is on the individual. But when the individual has the power to intentionally or unintentionally kill us all, we have to be very picky about who we trust with what. We can't afford to play politics with our lives in the balance."

Kirino nodded her understanding, "But no other colony uses such a system and they function just fine?"

"This isn't one of those colonies. This is Pluto. I can't form an opinion about the reality of other people's lives because their reality isn't our reality. In the end, people have to have the freedom to decide what's best for their society. What we have works for us. What they have works for them."

"I hope you won't think it rude of me to ask but. Do you have a job that you actually enjoy?"

"Yes I do! Very much! I'm an Engineer!" She answered with surprising enthusiasm, "I run a design studio and work to improve our technology."

Kirino couldn't help but catch onto her infectious enthusiasm, "That's amazing. May I ask what exactly you work on?"

"Of course you may!" Replied a suddenly even more cheerful Apollonia. "My specialization is mechanical engineering. Specifically I design industrial mobile suits for heavy construction and mining. My latest model is currently being used to harvest ice from the Kuiper belt. Thanks to the new suit and the new tools we invented for the job, my babies can harvest twenty five percent more water per trip, safer, and with much less labor," explained Apollonia with a happy smile.

"You're very passionate about your work I see," observed Kirino.

"Endearing isn't it? She's a different person when talking about something she knows everything there is to know about," said Efren while wrapping an arm around his fiance and pulling her in for a cuddle.

Kirino stepped out of the car after the door was opened for her. She looked around with a genuinely surprised look on her face. When one thought of the residence of a head of state, the image of the royal palace on New Atlantis was the first thing to come to mind with its stunning opulence, lush greenery, and timeless architecture. But the building did not fit that image in the slightest. It lacked even a security wall, but there were guards at least. The building itself seemed not much different from the rest of the city. It was just bigger. Not in the sense that it was anything grand. But it was not much larger than a typical villa on Earth.

"Not what you were expecting My Lady?" Kiku asked in a low voice near her ear.

Kirino was at a loss for words for a moment before blurting out her response in a politely low voice, "It's humble. And humbling."

Apollonia stood a respectful distance from the Knight-Commander and her servant while gesturing with her open hand towards the palace with Efren standing beside her.

* * *

The Knight-Commander stepped into a large and open room in the residence. Seated across the room was Administrator Melanie Asteria, there were two guards at the door, and two standing just behind the Administrator. The Administrator looked very much like an older version of her daughter. With red hair and matching red eyes. Her face though seemed tired and weathered beyond her years. The stress of her work being the most probable of culprits.

Seated on the floor around the room was about a dozen other people that she didn't know. Kirino was shown to a cushion placed a short distance from the Administrator who sat on a slightly elevated platform. It was like an ancient Japanese feudal lord's court that she'd previously only ever read about. It truly fascinated Kirino how much of her own ancient culture came alive in this place, mixed in with so many other cultures to form something truly unique and special. As she seated herself, she pulled her sword out of her belt and set it down close beside her with the sharp edge facing towards herself as would be proper in her own homeland. Though the gesture went unnoticed. Swords weren't a part of the local culture and so neither was the etiquette for them. Her servant Kiku seated herself to Kirino's right, and just behind her.

"Welcome to Hades, Your Ladyship," said the Administrator in a low and even tone.

Kirino bowed her head briefly before looking back up at her, "I thank you very much for seeing me. It is an honor to finally have the opportunity to meet you. Though I wish the circumstances were better."

The Administrator said nothing but with a polite gesture of her hand motioned for her to speak.

"His Imperial Highness, Prince Leon has commanded me to investigate the origins of several Plutons he found dead aboard a transport vessel he seized near Venus. I come to you today to humbly ask for your assistance in this matter."

The Administrator slowly nodded her head, "With all due respect Commander. With an Imperial mandate, you don't need my co-operation to conduct an investigation. So may I ask why you've come to me with this?"

"To be blunt, the people of Pluto don't exactly like the Imperium. If I had my Knights going around Pluto and Charon asking questions, they wouldn't be warmly received and I fear that might lead to problems I would like to avoid. With your help, we can avoid all that. The second reason is a bit selfish, I simply wanted to meet you."

"I'm just a humble widow You Ladyship, there is nothing special about me. But your first reason has merit, and I must admit I have tremendous respect for your sensitivity and pragmatism. Because you came to me with this when you didn't have to, I will do everything in my power to help you. Please tell me what you know of these people you are looking for."

"I thank you once again. There are seven people I'm looking to find out about. All I have on them at the moment are post-mortem images. According to what I was told, they took their own lives to avoid capture. There's also one other odd detail about them. All seven of them have had extensive cybernetic implants installed throughout their bodies despite being perfectly healthy."

The Administrator cast her a curious glare at the last remark and asked for elaboration.

"We don't have the slightest idea. When the medical team attempted to extract and study the implants, they seemed to crumble. They surmised it was some sort of security feature to prevent the implants from being studied. I'm told it was impossible to ascertain their purpose."

"I can see why the Prince is so curious. I too would like to know more about this. To that end, I will have my staff grant you access to our records, and place our law enforcement officers at your disposal for the investigation. Will that be sufficient?"

"It's more than I dared to hope for. I can't fully express my gratitude."

"No, Your Ladyship. It is I who should be thanking you. I suspect that any other Knights in your position would simply do as they pleased without any regard for the potential consequences. I find your respect for my people to be most refreshing. If there is anything else you should need, or if you encounter any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me."

After the meeting, Kirino and her servant were shown out. Melanie Asteria then called on Efren Valerio to approach her.

"Yes Madam Administrator?"

"Efren. I have mixed feelings. I meant what I said to her. But she obviously can't be allowed to roam free. Please extend to her every courtesy we can offer, and get her as much as we can give her on the people she's looking for. But make sure she has no reason to continue investigating here. Do you understand?"

"I understand perfectly and I'll pass the word to arrange everything. Mother," said Efren with his usual charming smile.

"Mind yourself. It is entirely too soon for you to be so familiar with me!"

"Yes. Of course."

"And one last thing. Make sure the word gets out that I will be _very_ upset if any members of the SSA make an unsanctioned attempt on the Knight-Commander's life while she's on Pluto. As long as she cannot harm our interests, I will not tolerate any harm coming to her. Is that clear Commander Valerio?"

"Crystal clear Madam. I'll see to it myself."

* * *

Akemi considered her next move carefully. There was not even a hint of emotion on her features, her brown eyes were blank, her lavender hair surrounding her face cast shadows to further mask her thoughts. She was as cool as ice, her olive skin didn't glisten with even the slightest bead of sweat. If she was feeling the pressure at all, there wasn't a hint of it to be found on her.

"You gonna make your move or what? Seriously. I'm losing the will to live!" She heard him say to her in a stern and deadly serious tone. Sweat dripping from the top of his shaven head, his sleeveless white shirt soaked to transparency and sticking to his sculpted chest. His hazel eyes burning with the anticipation of her decision while his chin rested on his right hand.

"When the stakes are this high my dear Riley-sama, one mistake will cost us everything…" she replied with a flat monotone which again betrayed nothing of her thoughts.

"Stop calling me that… It's annoying. And time isn't exactly a luxury we have," the bald one retorted.

Akemi looked intensely at what she was holding in her right hand. "Wise people say that patience is a virtue," she said while holding up the index finger of her left hand. "Your time isn't up until it's up."

"It's also been said that the wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time," he answered back.

"Dante Alighieri. So why are you so annoyed at the loss of time? You're rushing as if you got a lucky hand. If your hand doesn't get tired of holding it, maybe you'll get lucky with it in the shower later," replied Akemi in a serious deadpan.

"Or maybe you're just delaying the inevitable in the hopes that my hand will get tired and I fold?"

"Could be. But I might also just be giving your hand a chance to see what a loser you really are."

"You wanna drive her off and get with me instead?" asked Dennis with a sly grin.

"No. I just wanna drive her off," she deadpanned.

"Look Akemi, you might be the smartest person at this table, but you don't know squat about poker, or masturbation."

"From what your calloused hand is telling me, neither do you," she deadpanned.

"Oh snap! I'll go get the burn cream," said a loud male voice who then slapped the man hard on the shoulder.

"Slap me again and I'll slap you back Jerry…" said Dennis with a stern glare at the man beside him.

"Oh yeah? Try it! I'm a Marine, I will kick your ass and I don't care how many hours you put in at the gym!" he yelled back in his face.

"How could you be bored and impatient with such entertaining company?" asked Akemi with a raised brow.

"Because there's over a thousand Drachmas in that pot and they all want to be with me. So can we hurry this up?"

Jerry laughed loudly at him and spoke in a sing-song tune, "You're just gonna spend all your loot in a house of ill repute!"

Dennis narrowed his eyes at the other man, "You don't snark half as good as she does, don't even try…"

"Very well Riley-sama. I see and call. Now show me yours and I'll show you mine," said Akemi with her signature grin and a measure of excitement in her voice.

"I hope your cards are worth showing because there ain't nothing in your chest..." he said while setting down his cards for all to see. "Full house, twos over threes," he stated while standing up to collect his winnings.

"Straight Flush!" squealed a gleeful Akemi while forcefully setting down her cards on top of the pot of money for the man to see, going from the six to ten of hearts.

"Damn it all! One day woman! One day! I will finally defeat you at this stupid game!" yelled the man while sitting back down in his chair.

"Until then, maybe you'll have better luck Ms. Palm and her five daughters," said Akemi while collecting her winnings.

"Sucks to be you Riley," said Jerry while patting him on the shoulder as he stood up to leave them table.

"Fuck you Jerry, you didn't do any better."

"I didn't bet more than I could afford to lose," he answered with a click of his tongue before leaving.

Dennis turned his attention back to the lavender haired girl after the other man left, "So Akemi, what're you gonna do with all that coin?"

"I have a few things in mind. My mother's birthday is coming up. I wanna get her something nice."

"Mommy's girl huh?"

"And proud of it. Daddy's girl too!"

At that moment Mercedes came over with two plates of food for herself and Akemi. Each plate held some blue colored rectangular bars with a paste on the side for dipping. "I see that stupid game is finally over with."

"No food for me? You're so cruel Mercedes!"

"I only have two hands and I like her more than you. Deal with it!"

"Fine. I'll go get my own food. But you do realize you're giving her the wrong idea. Look at her, she's got stars in her eyes!" said Dennis while gesturing to Akemi who was staring up with Mercedes with a bright smile.

"Damn it... I almost forgot about that…" the Martian groaned while setting the plates down on the table and then flicking Akemi's forehead with her middle finger. "Wake up baka!"

"Owww! But my fantasy was so nice!"

"Maybe for you… But it's creepy for the rest of us, now EAT!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Sorry to bust your bubble Mercedes, but I think you mean creepy for you. The rest of us would give our left nuts to see inside her mind when she's fawning over you."

"Don't encourage her! Shut up and go get your food! Efren wants to see us when he gets back, so hurry it up!"

Dennis sighed while standing up to leave, "Man… What a turn off…"


	3. Pluto - Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

" **A Sheep Amidst the Wolves"**  
November 22nd, 755, I.C.

* * *

Kirino paced back and forth in her room. The Hotel they'd been put up in for the duration of their visit was close to the spaceport and exclusively used by offworld visitors. Luxury wasn't something Plutons appreciated, but this place was luxurious even by Earth standards. That also bothered her a lot. The Administrator had spared no expense in being a gracious host to her. Everything she asked for was provided for her. Information, manpower, tours of sites…

"Everything is just so damn convenient!" she yelled in frustration while simultaneously suppressing the urge to rip her own hair out.

"There she goes with her cup half empty again… Calm yourself My Lady," said Kiku.

"With respect, Your Ladyship. I think you're stressing over nothing. If there was something to be found here, we'd have found a hint of it by now," sneered one of the Knights seated with his legs crossed and sipping from a glass of water. Sir Travis Delgado, one of four she had brought with her as escorts. Of all of them, he was her least favorite and she was deeply regretting her decision to select him. She knew he was a spoiled man child, but being in such close proximity to him for so long only made her realize that he was worse than she'd imagined.

It was the smugness of the man which made Kirino want to take out her frustrations on his face. His proud noble posture, his flawless baby face. She wanted nothing more than to reach down his throat and rip the arrogance out of his very soul.

Kiku knew her too well by now, and was quickly at her side to sooth her frustration the best way she knew how. "My Lady. If something is being hidden here, anger won't help you find it. You need to remain calm and approach this rationally."

Kirino took a deep breath and collected herself. It was what she liked most about her servant. Her kind hearted nature that could calm a typhoon's wrath. "You're right Kiku…"

The pink haired servant nodded to her employer with a serious look on her face, "Now then. Thinking rationally. What is your assessment of the situation?"

Delgado scoffed at the display in front of him but said nothing and simply sipped his water. This drew sharp glares from the three other Knights but was ignored by Kirino and her servant who remained focused on their brainstorming.

Kirino paced back and forth with her hand on her chin, "If they have something to hide. They could easily just ignore us. On our own we'd never have gotten what we do have. Either that means they are indeed giving us their full co-operation… Or…"

Kiku stepped back from her, content that her frustrations had been calmed.

"Or… They're placating us by giving us what they think we want so we'll leave here and not look back."

Delgado shook his head, "I think you're just grasping at straws. If they were caught doing that, we could have fifty mobile suits in here to force out the truth at gunpoint. It isn't in their interest to lie to us. She might be a Pluton. But unlike your servant, the Administrator knows her place, and her role."

Kirino glared at the Knight with contemptuous eyes, but what angered her more was the fact that he didn't seem at all bothered by what he just said, or her own reaction to what he just said. Her hand shook near the tsuka of her katana, begging her to grasp it and eviscerate the fool. Her upper torso trembled as the adrenaline pumped to and from her heart and made her entire body feel numb. It took every ounce of self control she had to keep herself from acting on the desire to kill this man for his insult to both her and Kiku.

But Kiku, didn't even flinch. She was as calm and collected as ever. All she had to do was put a hand on Kirino's shoulder and the Knight-Commander felt all the anger simply flow out of her body and evaporate.

"Sir Travis. I would, _strongly_ , caution you to act like a gentleman in the future and choose your words more carefully. Remember where we are. Insulting their Head of State isn't going to get us anywhere. We want to be friendly with the people of Pluto. We are not here to antagonize them. We're here to protect them. Don't forget it."

"With respect Your Ladyship. These people only exist out here because of us, they are here to work and provide for the Imperium. Nothing more. Stop worrying about their feelings. If you think they're hiding something from us, let's just bring in our mobile suits and poke around until we scare something out of hiding."

Kirino balled a fist and was about to step up and hit the man when Kiku put a hand back on her shoulder and tightened her grip ever so slightly to hold her back. It was subtle, unnoticed by the onlookers, but Kirino knew that Kiku was the one with the cooler head, the strong moral compass she had to depend on even more in this unfamiliar environment and culture.

"We don't even speak the language. How do you propose we do any investigating without local help? Not to mention there are twenty six settlements here. Also, mobile suits are out of the question. I won't condone a course of action that'll lead to another incident like the one on Ceres."

Delgado looked around at the other Knights who opted to remain silent. Cowards. That was what he thought of them. But his Knight-Commander was another matter, she was weak. Any one else would have shot him by now, but he had to know just how far he could push his luck…

"You have your servant. Surely she speaks whatever they speak. If you're so confident in her loyalty to you over her own kind then use her to help us find what we're looking for instead of just…"

"Instead of what?" asked a seething Kirino with no attempt to mask the contempt in her tone.

"A gentleman should not comment on such things. Now what say you?"

Kirino put a hand on Kiku's and gently lifted her hand off her shoulder before stepping over to the seated Knight who was in the process of raising his glass to his lips for another sip when she slapped the glass out of his hand and promptly sucker punched him in the mouth.

"I say… You will never again, adress me as _you_. I am a Knight-Commander in the Order of the Dawn. You will address me as such, or we will all get to witness first hand what happens to a man's face when it's pressed down into one of these Pluton toilet things! And don't test me because I am genuinely curious!"

"You know… I do wonder. What happens to everything when it's sucked down those things?" one of the other Knights asked while looking at Kiku for an answer.

"Respectfully, Sir Knight. Perhaps it would be better if you remained ignorant about the specifics of our waste disposal and management systems. I know I very dearly wish I were..."

"Very well… Your _Ladyship_. What are you orders?" asked Delgado while holding a handkerchief under his bottom lip to stop blood from dripping onto his uniform.

"Hmm… Kiku. If we were to go off on our own and start looking around. Where would we even start?"

"I'd think it was a bad idea. But if you were to insist. I would recommend we go in plain cloths. Uniforms draw a lot of attention. Our biggest problem would be the Mystikí Astynomía. The uniformed regular police escorting us around, they're nobodies. The Mystasty are the ones who have the real power on Pluto. They'll be keeping very close tabs on us and evading them would be difficult. But not impossible as they might have you believe. We should move in two groups and tell our escorts we'd like to go shopping. Dame Kirino and I can easily evade the uniform officers if we go to the right stores."

"And for good reason…" said one of the other Knights who drew nods from his male comrades.

"Indeed. You gentlemen should roam around the commercial district and act normal. Browse the stores, buy gifts for your families, or lovers, whatever you can think of. Don't be afraid to take your time or splurge. The more you bore your escorts, the better. Meanwhile, Her Ladyship and I will evade our escorts and get started."

"After we evade them, where would we start? It's not a very big city, but it's big enough," wondered Kirino.

Kiku pondered that question for a long moment, "There are a few places away from the Mystasty's eyes where you can pick up useful rumors. We'll begin there, and see where our journey leads us."

"With all due respect Kiku. Sir Travis did have a point, even if he expressed it poorly. How can we trust you? These are your own people are they not? Why would you help us potentially harm their interests?"

Kiku turned the questioning Knight with her head lowered, "Because first and foremost, I serve Dame Kirino. For as long as I am in her employ, it is my duty to help her in every way I am able."

"Good enough I suppose… When shall we begin?"

Kirino looked around and nodded, "As soon as everyone is appropriately dressed. So get to it gentlemen."

* * *

Dennis stood with shopping bags in his hands, sweat glistening from his head and dropping down into his eyes forcing him to blink and shake his head to get the irritation out. " **This is so stupid!"** he yelled at the top of his lungs. Suddenly everyone in the store around him was staring at him.

Dennis narrowed his eyes and looked around, making eye contact with as many people as he could. "What are you all staring at? Get back to your shopping like good little sheep!"

Akemi poked her head up from the isle she was browsing and looked over at him. "Hey Riley-sama! Are you on your period or something?"

"Yes woman! I am on my fucking period! But instead of bleeding through my cock once a month I get enslaved to carry your shopping bags which are full of heavy and useless crap that you bought with _my fucking money!_ "

"Then you shouldn't have asked for a double or nothing against her if you couldn't pay," said a nonchalant Mercedes who was standing behind him with a book she was skimming through.

"She said she was just shopping for a birthday present for her mom… Who knew she was going to single handedly stimulate the entire gods damned economy?!"

"How many years have you known us now? Every time we get some extra cash, it's the same thing. Why haven't you learned that yet?" the raven-haired girl deadpanned at the bald boy.

"If you buy one more book Mercedes… I swear to the gods I'm gonna find a nice imported carpet and drag you across it until you die of rug burn and then use the static electricity to cook Akemi…"

"That sounds kinda kinky actually. Could we use the static to recharge my vibrator instead? I'm kinda low on my electricity ration this month," asked Akemi.

"Give me back a hundred drachmas for my hooker budget and I'll consider your request."

Mercedes glanced around at the shocked looks of the other patrons and covered her face with her palm. "You two are shameless… Now I'm buying two books."

"Damn you woman! Don't you dare test me!"

A moment later a taller Policeman tapped Dennis on the shoulder. The bald boy turned around and looked up into the taller man's cold eyes with an aggressive look and the two stood there in a staring contest.

"Identification. Now," the taller man ordered in a stern voice.

Dennis sighed heavily and set down the shopping bags to produce his identification card for the man who snatched it out of his hand and inserted it into his handheld computer. "Disturbing the peace. That's fifty drachmas… Which you don't seem to have in your account. I'll take it in cash, or I'll take you to jail."

Dennis looked over at Mercedes with a pleading look. "Mercedes. Could you loan me? I'm too pretty for prison."

The dark haired girl sighed and handed over the requested money. "I'm only doing this because I still have a use for you Riley… Not because I like you."

"I can pay you back with cash next month, or with sex later tonight. Either is fine with me…" he said to her while putting his identification away and picking the bags back up.

Mercedes narrowed her eyes and looked around the store for a moment until she made a decision,"Come on Riley. I need some new lingerie," said Mercedes while dragging Dennis by the arm.

Akemi perked up and came running over to her two friends, "Oh! Me too! I can't wait to see the new imports!"

"Why spend money on imports when you don't even have boobs?" She asked her shorter friend.

"Somebody please kill me…" moaned Dennis while being dragged away by Mercedes.

* * *

Kirino had only ever been out shopping on Earth before now. But Hades was another world beyond her imagination. The merchandise was kept on rusty metal shelves bolted to the stone floor. The interior of this building was poorly lit, and even more poorly ventilated, but she didn't mind that fact because it kept the warmth inside.

The selection of items across the store was very small, and by the look of the other customers, Kirino deduced that this wasn't a place that just anyone could afford to shop at. She'd learned that, generally speaking, there weren't any wealth gaps between Plutons. Everything, including money, was strictly rationed. So disposable income wasn't something everyone always had. But this was a place for those lucky few whom for whatever reason, had some disposable money. But the majority of clients were the off world traders who visited Hades. Kirino guessed that this place was meant to cater to them rather than the locals.

The store mostly offered clothing, another section sold books, and another section had the imports. From the look of them, mostly things that couldn't be sold anywhere else along a trade route ended up here. It was nothing like the wide variety of goods one could find on Earth.

Kirino held up an example of what seemed to be the most fashionable item available in the store and raised an eyebrow. "Kiku… Do all Plutons wear things like this? Or did you bring me here on purpose to embarrass me?"

Kiku looked over at what she was holding up and shrugged, it was a set of revealing see through white lingerie made of satin and lace "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"You mean to tell me you wear things like this under your maid outfit, everyday?" asked Kirino while looking at Kiku with a confused expression.

The young pink haired woman gave another shrug. "I still don't see the problem."

Kirino bit her lower lip while looking at the lingerie once again, her cheeks turning red at the same time. "Yeah… I suppose you wouldn't…" she muttered to herself.

"If you want it. Buy it."

"That's not why we're here… We're here because our male escorts are too shy to accompany-"

" **THIS IS SO STUPID!"**

Kirino heard someone yell loudly in english and turned to see a group of three young people coming into the ladies section. Their male companion trying in vain to stand at the entrance with his arms full of shopping bags and his two female friends forcing him to come in with them.

"Urusai baka!" yelled the short girl with lavender hair.

"Buk-korosu malaka!" yelled the taller raven haired girl.

"Fae ena kouva skata!" the young bald man protested.

"What's their problem?" asked Kirino.

Kiku covered her face with her palm. "Some things never change… Let's move before they-"

"Kiku-senpai?!" yelled the purple haired girl which made Kirino raise an eyebrow at the pinkette.

"You know them?"

"Oh gods… Forgive me whatever trespass has lead to you bringing this torment down upon me this day…"

"Kiku-senpai!" she yelled again while running over to Kiku and embracing her tightly.

"Hello Meiousei-san. It's been a long time. I see you haven't changed at all. And you Riley-san, and Verdin-san."

"Hello Kiku. Apologies for the disturbance. But you know how she is," said Mercedes.

Kirino couldn't follow the conversation. Though she knew some of the words being used but the mix of other linguistic influences made it indecipherable to her. So instead she looked at the young man with all the shopping bags after he made eye contact with her and the pair nodded to each other. "You're Terran aren't you?" she asked him.

"Sort of. I'm from the L3 colony group. New Anchorage. But I've lived here so long I can't even remember anything about it. I'm Dennis Riley by the way," he said while mustering a bright smile for the Knight-Commander.

"And I'm Kirino Akiyama. Nice to meet you. You're all friends of Kiku's?"

"Kind of. We sort of went to school together. Kiku was our senior."

Meanwhile, Akemi was busy grilling Kiku. "Kiku-senpai! What happened to you? You just vanished. We miss you so much."

"I'm a maid now. I work for this lady here with me," she said while gesturing to Kirino.

Akemi pulled back from Kiku and looked over Kirino with a scrutinizing glare before suddenly widening her eyes in awe of the Knight-Commander, "Whoa… Ise kirei!" she exclaimed with that mesmerised look on her face that had Kirino blushing.

"I think I understood that. Arigato. You do say that word, right Kiku?"

"Yes. We do," she answered with a nod.

"How about we get out of here and go sit down and smoke a little shisha?" suggested Akemi.

"Oh gods yes. Please!" said Dennis.

"Do I get a say in this?" asked Kiku.

Dennis shook his head at the older woman. "Nothing's changed since the old days. It's still better for everyone if we just go along with whatever Akemi wants."

Kirino looked around the group in confusion. "Umm. Can someone who can communicate with me tell me what's going on? I'm a little lost here."

Kiku turned to her and gave her a small smile, "Just go with the flow for now. It'll make things easier for us. Trust me."

* * *

The group of them were seated in an outdoor area with water pipes, though Kirino herself abstained from smoking with everyone else, instead opting to sip water while they conversed. The area around them was dimly lit as was the norm for Hades. All around there were groups of people conversing in the Pluton language. But the three young people with her and Kiku were not so much paying attention to her and Kiku, but more to the surroundings. Eventually she managed to piece together why.

"Hmm. I count twelve. That's seriously overkill," remarked Dennis from his seat at the table after making a few casual glances at his surroundings while smoking from his water pipe.

"I got five, no wait. Seven... So Kiku. Do you happen to know why we're the center of attention for twenty of the eighty-four's?" asked Mercedes.

Kiku nodded, "I do. It's because of us," she said while pointing to herself and Kirino.

Kirino meanwhile didn't need to understand to realize what they were talking about. It was all in their eyes. She guessed it was normal for the Plutons to be able to recognize their own secret police even easier than she herself could spot them out. She figured the young people wanted an explanation of why they were being scrutinized so closely. "If they need to know. You can tell them Kiku. I trust your judgement."

The pinkette nodded to to the Knight-Commander and then looked around the table to the others. "It's because of Her Ladyship here. Kirino is the Knight-Commander of Volubilis Station."

"I guessed you were a VIP, but I didn't realize just how much of one…" said Dennis to Kirino.

"Well. Let's just say I'm trying not to be for a while," she replied casually.

The moment was interrupted by a server bringing a large dish of various food stuff and set it down on the table in front of them. Each of them in turn had to press their thumbs to a handheld computer provided by the waiter which deducted the amount of food they were allowed for the day and put it into the public record.

Then Kirino started curiously examining the various items on the tray, they ranged from brownish rectangular blocks to small colored cubes with small dishes of various sauces. "What is this stuff exactly?"

Kiku picked up a yellow colored cube and dipped it into a white sauce. "Try a blue one first. Most people who are new to this food do better with it."

Kirino watched her eat it while the others all reached for something as well. She finally gave in to the temptation and picked up a blue colored cube and dipped it in the same white sauce and quickly put it in her mouth.

What followed was the single most devastating assault to her taste buds she'd ever experienced. It was hard and textureless but softened in the mouth. It packed a powerful flavor she'd never experienced before. It tasted like the smell of a mouldy bathroom combined with industrial strength antiseptics wrung from a dirty old mop. That was just the sauce. What followed was an aftershock of something she couldn't find any frame of reference for, but it invoked the most powerful gag reflex she'd ever experienced.

"Oh my god…" she blurted out while trying to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Good?" asked Kiku.

Kirino quickly picked up a napkin and spat into it. She then went for her water to chug and wash whatever was left out of her mouth but it continued to linger despite her efforts. She heard the three young Plutons burst into laughter at her reaction and didn't make her feel any less embarrassed. Especially knowing how precious food was in this world.

Kirino felt too ashamed to even look at any of them in the eyes.

Mercedes then looked over at Dennis, "Riley? Could you translate what I'm saying?" when he nodded she stood up and reached over the table to put a hand on her shoulder. "The food here takes a lot of getting used to," she started and paused while Riley repeated what she said. "But don't feel bad if you can't handle it right away. I only got used to it because my alternative was to go hungry."

Kirino looked up at the black haired girl and nodded with a forced smile. "Arigato."

Mercedes then smiled back at her before sitting back down again.

Kirino then looked over to Dennis. "She's not Pluton either I take it?"

Dennis shook his head in the negative, "No, she's Martian. She came here to study."

"Are any of you three Plutons? You're Terran, she's Martian, what about her?" she asked while gesturing politely to the lavender haired girl.

"Heh. Nobody knows what Akemi is. She sort of drifted into Pluto one day as a little kid and got adopted. This is all she knows. I guess it's the common bond between the three of us. In the end, we're all outsiders," explained Dennis.

"I see. And what about her then? Who comes all the way out here from Mars to go to high school? Mars is pretty well known for its educational opportunities, Pluto isn't."

Dennis shrugged in response and asked the question of Mercedes. After a moment of hearing Mercedes speaking he started translating. But his words oddly didn't seem to match the black haired girl's tone. "She says it's because Mars is so competitive you have to have something different and special about to you to stand out in the crowd. So she decided to come to school on Pluto."

Kirino decided not to question it further and then looked at Kiku next, "Are you actually Pluton?"

Kiku nodded, "Yes. Seventh generation. I can't be lumped in with these three delinquents."

"Kiku-senpai! It's a good thing Akemi can't understand you… Actually even if she could I doubt she'd care," Dennis looked over at Akemi who was eating something with her eyes locked on Kirino. "She's busy mentally undressing Her Ladyship."

Kirino looked at Akemi for a moment and quickly realized it was probably true and looked away awkwardly.

"Yeah, Kirino. Sorry about Akemi. There's no excuse for her. She lives in her own world."

"Riley-san. You're a Terran, you should know how to properly address a Knight. Especially a Knight-Commander!"

"With all due respect _senpai…_ She's the one who said she's trying not to be a VIP for a while. I'm simply obliging her by treating her the same as I would anyone else. Do you have a problem with that Kirino?"

Kirino looked over at Dennis and shook her head. "Not at all. I actually want to learn all about Pluto. Hopefully learn the language and all the customs."

"Good. Well, I can't say I blame Akemi. You are seriously hot. I love the hime-cut you got going on. You really pull the look off. And your red eyes are awesome too. They look evil, but _sexy_ evil."

Kirino averted her eyes awkwardly once again while Kiku started fuming in her seat with an angry glare directed at Dennis. "I see you haven't grown up at all."

"Aww. Come on Kiku. She likes it. Look at her. She's getting all shy and bashful. It makes her feel like a normal girl. The only men she deals with are probably either trying to stab her in the back or have their noses so far up her ass they're constantly in the sick-bay to get pink eye treatment. Am I right Kirino?"

Kirino coughed and cleared her throat, "Well. I wouldn't exactly put it in those exact terms. But, close enough. I would also like to point out that you're a little too young for me. However. If you weren't. You'd have won some decent points. So don't ever change. Girls like bad boys with good hearts," she said and then gave him a wink.

"Well thank you. But you should know that some of the finer things in life are best enjoyed once aged for eighteen years," he answered with a bright smile.

"Oooh. Touche! This one's going to turn into a fine man one day. Tell you what Dennis. What are your plans for after your graduation?"

"Already graduated. We're in an Engineering training program right now."

"But you're still Terran. So if you're interested, come see me for a job. I think if I give my Knights a week with you, they might learn something."

"Ahh. But you never know what they might offer me here after I finish this training program. You might end up coming to see _me_ for a job."

Akemi and Kiku started laughing hysterically. "What's so funny?" asked Dennis.

Akemi spoke to Dennis in Pluton while Kiku explained it in English for Kirino. "She says his best job prospect is as a male prostitute."

Everyone at the table burst into laughter but Kirino felt compelled to rush to his defense. "So you're saying he's so good in bed that he should do it professionally? Is that from first hand experience?"

Dennis started laughing so hard it hurt his sides while he fought through the mirth to translate that to Akemi who suddenly fuming in her seat while Mercedes started hitting him in the arm.

"Ahhh. Haha! Damn it Kirino. Where have you been all my life? I feel like I just met my perfect partner in crime!"

Kirino was taking a moment to sample some of the other food in the tray while it was still available and though none of them were much better than the first, she managed to force herself to eat and keep it down so as not to be rude. "So what do Plutons do for fun around here?"

"Fun? Hey, she wants to go have some fun!"

Kiku covered her face with her palms. "Oh gods have mercy…"

Kirino looked at Kiku and then back at Dennis. "Umm… You want to fill me in?"

Dennis quickly spoke up before Kiku could answer, "Where are you two staying?"

Kiku sat back in her chair and took a puff of her water pipe, "We're not far from here, closer to the spaceport."

Dennis smirked, "The fancy place? Alright. Tonight we'll come pick you up from there at eight sharp. Dress like you're going to hell."

"How does one dress for hell?" asked Kirino.

Kiku sighed, "I'll help you with that My Lady..."

* * *

Sir Travis Delgado sat with one leg crossed over the other, his upper lip split and swollen from the punch he'd taken from Kirino. The three other Knights seated around the living area of Kirino's hotel room.

Each of them though had their minds not on the work they were meant to be doing on Pluto, but instead on the two women they were here to guard. Delgado had to admit to himself that Kirino was a beautiful woman. Seeing her out of uniform was certainly making this trip worthwhile for him.

She was wearing cloths which she'd probably borrowed from Kiku to blend in with the Plutons. Black pants and knee high boots with a white turtleneck shirt. A thick black overcoat reaching down to just above her knees, it didn't have any buttons but there was a red sash holding it around her waist.

Kiku wore a similar outfit but with nothing but thick stockings on her legs, black boots, a short black skirt, and a black shirt. Her overcoat though was more elaborate, with very colorful and artistic embroidered designs he'd never seen before which matched her pink hair nicely. None of the clothing was fit for the aristocracy, or even a Knight. But, that didn't mean it wasn't still easy on the eyes.

"You ladies look rather lovely. Girl's night out?" Asked Delgado before pressing an ice pack to his swollen lip.

"If you must know… Yes," answered Kirino while staring out the window at all the dim flickering lights of the city.

The Knight would have smirked, if not for his swollen lip. "I see. So now we're neglecting our duty to have fun?"

"I don't have to defend myself to you. When I'm off duty, I may spend my time however I please. In this case, I just happen to be spending it in such a way that we can pick up useful rumors while we're at it. You should try learning about this place instead of being judgmental about it. It'll make doing your work in this sphere a lot easier if you knew the customs and the language. Blending in will make people more comfortable around us and they can talk freely without their hatred for the Imperium getting in the way."

Delgado scoffed. "Respectfully. I don't care if they hate the Imperium. They are still subjects of his Imperial Majesty and the more Your Ladyship reminds us of their dislike, the more I believe we should be putting the fear of God into these stupid people to remind them of their place in the universe."

Kirino turned her head towards him and narrowed her eyes. "Keep talking Sir Travis. I'm waiting for your tongue to slip so I'll have an excuse to cut it out…"

The Knight stood up and looked back into her eyes, "Her Ladyship only seems to display some backbone when it comes to the natives. I would remind Her Ladyship that these people are nothing but undesirable human refuse cast away from the Earth Sphere because they were a blight upon it. Today they are pagans who have no respect or fear for God nor even common human decency. Rationing food, arbitrarily forcing people into lifelong careers with no hope of advancement or achievement for anyone but the most elite. Don't let this cozy hotel room fool you My Lady. I've been out on those streets and seen the conditions these people impose upon themselves. I've seen the trash they try to sell in their stores, tasted their God awful food, and drank their recycled piss."

"Are you quite finished Sir Travis?" asked the Knight-Commander with barely concealed contempt.

"I haven't even started yet. This place needs some law and order. The people blame us for their self imposed misery. Why should I stand for that? I say it's time we imposed some common human decency on them. At the end of a railgun if we have to. Not even these filthy people deserve to live like this! Look at your cloths even, I've seen those same boots on every woman out there, just in a few different colors. All the cloths are exactly the same! All the buildings are the same! No diversity, no expression... It disgusts me to share the title of human being with the people who think this is the way things should be!"

Kiku looked up at Delgado with a raised eyebrow, "And who made you the supreme authority on human morality?"

The angry Knight pointed out the window while turning his glare towards the younger pink haired girl seated across from him. "How can you possibly defend that?"

"I don't have to. I would simply point out that nobody is trying to force our way of life upon you. So what may I ask gives you the right to impose yours upon us? By force of arms no less."

"You sound like one of the SSA terrorists! Whose side are you on woman?!"

"What we have here works for us because if we allowed a system which encourages people to be greedy and selfish it would have dire consequences for society as a whole. If everyone got to choose the jobs they wanted, nobody would choose to do certain jobs which are required for the benefit of all the people. That would in turn lead to a situation where we would have to import labor from other colonies and substantially increase the population beyond a sustainable level when our current resources are already at their limits, not to mention heavily taxed by the Emperor,

"Our resources are finite. Yours aren't. Out here, certain work can only be trusted to certain highly qualified individuals because we live in an environment where one person's incompetence can have immediate and far reaching consequences which can easily reach extinction levels. If you could see past your own nose, you might be able to understand. I'm not asking you to like it. But if you really understood the reality of life here, you would accept it."

"How can anyone accept a system that gives a street sweeper the same compensation as a teacher or policeman? Where's the incentive to work harder and be better? It comes from seeing things you want but can't have. That is what drives us to work harder and achieve. It looks to me like the Plutons only believe in everyone being equally miserable instead of equally happy."

"The incentive is security. Everyone has work, everyone has food, everyone has a home, they eventually retire and live with dignity. We're not individualists, we all put in work so we may all reap the benefits. We work to raise the standards of living for all, not just the fortunate few."

"Enough! Both of you. This could go on for hours and neither of you will ever agree. So what's the point? Just agree to disagree and let's focus on why we're actually here," said Kirino. "Hopefully we'll be all done here in a couple of days and we can get back to the station."

"I hope so. Because I am dying for a real shower. These chemical wipes they provide can't be good for you. They smell bad and they're horrid on the hair," said one of the other Knights.

Kiku snickered to herself drawing the eyes of all the Knights except Kirino's to her. "They aren't for your hair… You're suppose to use the cream for your hair."

The Knights all looked at each other and then back to Kiku, "The cream was for hair?!"

"What did you think it was for?" asked Kirino with a raised brow.

"I honestly thought it was for the food… It smelled so good and didn't taste bad."

Kiku started laughing. "Don't worry. It isn't toxic. But you gentlemen probably shouldn't stray far from a restroom for the next while."

"And what are we supposed to do while you two are out galavanting tonight?" asked an indignant Delgado.

"If you're brave enough to stray from the restroom, you could head back to the spaceport and use the shuttle's comm system to contact the station and give them an update on our investigation to forward to Prince Leon…" Kirino said with an amused voice.

* * *

Kirino and Kiku walked outside the hotel at the appointed hour where they were immediately stopped by two men. "Your Ladyship. I wasn't told you would like to go out again. I need to know where you would like to go so that I may arrange your escorts."

Kiku immediately spoke up on her behalf, "We're going out with some old school mates of mine. We want to show Her Ladyship around the city."

One of the men shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't allow that. If you would like, we can arrange a tour of the city sometime tomorrow afternoon. But for your safety, you should remain here for the evening."

"That is unacceptable. You can't tell a Knight-Commander of the Imperium what she can and cannot do, who do you think you are?" asked Kiku with indignation.

"Our orders are to ensure the safety of Her Ladyship. If you have a problem with that, you'll have to raise your concerns with the Ministry of Public Safety."

Kiku sighed in frustration and then turned to Kirino to start explaining the situation, but before she could start speaking she was cut off by a loud voice demanding the attention of the policemen.

"That won't be necessary gentlemen. They're with us."

Kirino and Kiku turned to see that it was Efren Valerio who spoke. He was accompanied by Apollonia Asteria as well as the three young people from earlier. They were all similarly dressed to Kirino and Kiku with variously colored over coats.

Efren walked up to the two policemen and took them aside while Apollonia and the others came up to them.

"Good evening Dame Kirino, how do you do?" Asked Apollonia.

"Oh, hello again Lady Asteria," said Kirino as she bowed respectfully to the younger woman, "I'm well thank you."

"Please, just call me Apollonia. I'm not a noble and that kind of formality isn't really used around here."

"I'm sorry. I'm more accustomed to how we do things in the Earth Sphere. I'm still learning about your cultural norms. But you may also address me as Kirino then."

"Hey Kirino," said Dennis with a low wave to the woman.

"Kalispéra Kirino-san, Kiku-senpai!" Said Mercedes and Akemi.

"Kalispéra. O genki desu ka?" Replied Kiku with a warmer tone that Kirino was used to.

Kirino chuckled softly to herself, "If I learned Greek, I'd probably have no problem communicating with those two."

Apollonia smiled at Kirino, "I'm sure you'll pick up the language in no time. But there's more to it than just speaking the base languages, which in all, our language has four roots."

"Which are?"

"Greek, Polish, Japanese, and Inuit."

"Inuit? That seems a bit random, doesn't it?"

"Our ancestors were forced together to build the Pluton colonies at random. So yes. It is," answered Kiku.

Apollonia nodded, "My point is, you understand some of the most common phrases. But if I say something like… Junnaq stamáta no pociąg…"

"Then I'd be _completely_ lost," said Kirino with a laugh they all shared in good fun. "By the way, how do you all know each other? We just met earlier today, but I had no idea they were your friends as well," she asked no one in particular.

"Well… That's an easy story," started Apollonia, "These three are my test pilots. If you recall, I told you that I develop industrial mobile suits. These three, and my fiance, are part of my design bureau. They help me fine tune my babies."

"Ahhh… That explains that. Nobody mentioned it earlier."

"To be fair Kirino. You didn't ask. You just offered me a job," said a coy Dennis.

Kirino smirked at the young man, "Touche. But you did mention you were in an engineering training program. I just didn't know you were working with them."

While Efren talked with the policemen Kirino looked around at everyone and particularly took note of their overcoats. She concluded that the coats people wore here seemed to be the single article of clothing that was the most expressive. The quality of clothing people wore on the street was mass produced without much care put into form, but only to function. They weren't of poor quality though, at least the clothes she borrowed from Kiku weren't. Function over form, that was the design language of everything on Pluto.

But the overcoat worn by Mercedes in particular really caught her attention, it was black but was very elaborately embroidered with red. The design featured various Pluton calligraphy with elaborate patterns she couldn't fully understand but still found to be very beautiful. Mercedes noticed her interest and stepped up to the Knight-Commander allowing her to more closely inspect the coat.

"I see you've taken an interest in our paltos," observed Apollonia with a smile. "Miss Verdin's is really quite exquisite isn't it?"

"It really is. I'm madly in love with it. I've never seen anything like this before."

Mercedes smiled at Kirino and started talking while Apollonia translated what was said, "She says her friend Akemi did the design for her. It took a whole year to finish."

"Really? That's very impressive. Would she do one for me?" Asked Kirino.

Apollonia posed the question to Akemi who then put a hand on her chin and looked over Kirino and quickly gave a firm nod. "She says she'd love to. But she wonders if you'll be around long enough for her to finish it. These designs take a very long time to complete. The art is done by completely by hand, by hobbyists and enthusiasts, something passed down in certain families. Particularly old families like Akemi's."

Kirino then stepped over to Akemi who proudly started showing off her own palto which was a very dark gray color. The embroidery was elegantly designed with some calligraphy and a different pattern flowing through it but she could tell the two designs she saw were done in the same art style.

"What do the words mean on the design?" Asked Kirino.

She posed the question to Akemi who happily started explaining the meanings, "On the sleeves they're religious in nature. Prayers. They're for protection, happiness, and… On the back…" said Apollonia while Akemi turned around and lifted her lavender hair for them to see. "It's her family lineage. Starting with her grandparents, then her mother, father, her little brother, and this here, it signifies that she was adopted into this family. These are what the designs are meant to be, they say important things about the person wearing them."

Kirino took a long moment to really absorb the details of the embroidery and then looked over Apollonia's palto. The material wasn't as simple as the others, it was mostly light pink, with detailing in red and black. But the embroidery only followed the black parts running along the outside of the coat which compared to the other two was very subdued, with only a simple golden line connecting a series of simple circles. But the sash around her waist wasn't a simple cloth like the others, it was a proper Japanese Obi, only tied up in front instead of the back. The same circles and lines embroidered on the black silk. "Considering who's daughter you are, I would have expected yours to be the most lavish and elaborate of all, but it's very minimalist. With the exception of the sash of course. Is there a reason why you wear that and others don't?"

"The sash? It's a family tradition thing. Old families. People descended from the first generation of settlers. But it's slowly dying out because as a society, we don't really like to stand out too much from each other. A few of us though are more traditionalists than others, so we cling a little tighter. As for the minimalist design, as I said, the designs are a reflection of the person wearing them. I'm not all that outgoing, I prefer to stay in and draw blueprints rather than go out on the town like this. But Efren talked me into it because these kids talked him into it. But anyway, I'm sure you were asking about the pattern on my palto. Akemi's mother actually did mine. The circles represent a lot of things, the many things always on my mind. The nature of the universe, our connection to it… I could go on and on, even my mind runs in circles and flows into another circle of thought. That's what it is really… Circles of thought, all inter connected."

"I see. That's actually very clever, and I'd dare say very accurate. What about the designs on her's? They're very different from the others," she said while gesturing towards Mercedes.

Akemi happily stepped over to Mercedes causing the taller blackhaired girl to sigh in embarrassment as Akemi started showing off the work she did on the coat. Apollonia started translating again for her, "For Mercedes she put the focus on her strength of character. The words are blessings from Prometheus, Ares, and Athena. Mercedes has a bit of a temper but she's also exceptionally intelligent and accomplished in the fields of science and mathematics. On the back of her palto is the red spot of Mars and a reference to a Martian poem, the march of the Iron Bloods which, I won't try to read because it's written in Martian."

Kirino nodded, "The first Martian freedom fighters, I know the one. That's very beautifully done. Please tell Akemi that if we have the opportunity, I would love for her to design something for me. But I'd have to get my own palto because I borrowed this one from Kiku."

Kiku put a hand on Kirino's shoulder and gently shook her, "It's yours now. I want you to keep it."

Kirino smiled at Kiku in gratitude, "What about your palto? Did you do these designs?"

Kiku shook her head, "No. My mother did mine for me. I don't have the talent for it at all. My older sister inherited that gene."

"For mine I think I want-"

Kiku shook her head at Kirino and quickly cut her off, "It doesn't work that way. The artist decides what to put on it for you. They take some time to get to know you and then they do the design that reflects your character traits. My mother said my palto is a reflection of the duality of my personality. It starts out very neat and ordered, but as it flows into the back it becomes increasingly colorful and chaotic. Make of that what you will."

"I'd say it sounds exactly right," answered Kirino with a wink.

After a moment Efren walked back to the group. "Everything's taken care of. Your security will mind their own business while you're out with us tonight."

* * *

It took thirty minutes on foot, and a short trip on the city's monorail system to reach the center of the city which was where the public library, university, and other schools were located. But it was the main feature of the city's center which was what Kirino was brought here to see. It couldn't be seen from her hotel room, but being up close to it was awe inspiring.

"This is the Temple of Hades. The center of worship in Pluton society," explained Efren to Kirino.

"May I ask why Hades? I thought Zeus was the ruler of the ancient gods?" Wondered Kirino.

"A fair question. It's because we live underground here. This is his domain we're in. Not his brother's. The underworld is the focus of our religion. Everything we require for our survival comes from the domain of Hades. There are other cults as well. But this is the largest. The one I'm personally a part of though is the Cult of Persephone, patron goddess of farming. But member or not, everyone comes here at some point to pay respect to Hades, especially at religious festivals," explained Efren.

"Can we go inside?"

"It's closed for a renovation right now. Perhaps on your next visit. But I still wanted you to see it. We don't have many monuments or tourist attractions. But if we did have a tourism industry, this would be on the post cards. This structure's been here since the earliest settlers started building this city."

"Why did they choose to revive a pagan polythe-" Kirino quieted herself when she noticed the harsh stares she was getting. "I'm sorry… I probably said something wrong…"

"We don't like the word 'pagan' around here. It's a word the Terrans and other colonists use as a derogatory for us. But you probably didn't know that. So you're forgiven. Your question is valid though, even if the framing was poor. It's really quite simple. At the time, there was a lot of persecution which lead to our ancestors being forced off the Earth. All the people sent here were considered 'undesirables' on Earth. They were the homeless, the poor, prisoners, political outcasts… The lowest of the low. They were sent here with everything they needed to build a successful colony and nothing more. Their two choices were to either be successful or die,

"The Cult of Hades was the first major religion to come out of that time. They felt abandoned by humanity, cast away to this place. They found the underground cave systems which eventually lead them into this cavern where they started building their colony. But everyone was so different, they all spoke different languages, and had different cultures. Some of the more learned Greeks among them started talking about how they were taken into the embrace of Hades himself down here. What started as an ironic joke, quickly became a cult that united the people and fostered co-operation in a way that nothing else could. Religion can drive people apart, or unite them."

Apollonia interjected herself into the history lesson, "That was also the beginning of our Technocracy. Very few among them had any real technical training or meaningful education. So they got together and sorted everyone out by the skills they had. Everyone had to work. They had to figure out who could do what work. That's also how the cults began to expand to other deities. For example I'm in the cult of Hephaestus, god the forge. Worshiped by people who build things. But regardless of the cult you follow, we all worship Hades as well because, well, it's like paying rent."

Kirino looked over the temple with renewed wonder, "That's really an incredible story of survival for your people. But, a big part of me is a little skeptical. They couldn't all be the sorts of people you described. At least, a majority of them had to have certain skills to make this possible."

Efren slowly nodded to acknowledge her skepticism, "Nothing motivates like the fear of death in the coldest reaches of space. People learned. They set everything else aside and focused only on staying alive. People were afraid to death of making mistakes. Everyone paid careful attention and learned what they needed to know from the people who knew. They had to get over their language barriers by learning each other's languages. They developed a system of writing that they could all comprehend. That's how our modern language evolved. They had to learn how to improvise and make the tools they needed. They had to learn how to always do more with less. And we've come a long way. Back then taking more food and water than you were allowed came with the death penalty. Today it results in a heavy fine and reduced rations. But the mentality they had endures to this day."

Kiku was the next to speak, "We weren't even the only colony to begin that way. In fact most colonies began the same way. A great many of them failed because the people couldn't get over their differences. But we did because we picked the right leaders, and we discovered a faith to unify us all."

Kirino began a harsh mental debate with herself. None of this was included in any reading material about Pluto she brought with her from Earth. She made a mental note to pick up appropriate historical literature from the Pluton perspective before she returned to the station.

"On Earth, people gave up on god, gods, whatever spiritual pursuits they followed because they decided it wasn't necessary anymore. Laws were passed banning the practice and proselytization of religion. Of course that didn't stop them. Trying to outlaw religion only made religious institutions stronger. But these days true believers are very rare on Earth. The people who wanted to follow certain religions had to move to the colonies where they would be allowed to practice because too many conflicts came from having too many different religions on one planet. Naturally that just created conflicts between colonies. But seeing how much it's helped your society. I can't help but wonder if we Terrans are somehow very deluded to think religion is unnecessary."

Dennis started laughing at what he heard, "You're really buying into this stuff aren't you?"

"Riley… That's enough! Have some gods damn respect!" Demanded Efren.

"Sorry sir. I can't. Not for this," he said while breathing in to control himself.

"Then why do you wear the coins?" asked Kiku in a calm and even tone while gesturing to his necklace.

"Incase I need change for a phone? Why do you think?" he retorted.

Kiku sighed and shook her head in disappointment, "I just find it interesting that you're the first to laugh at our faith, but you also wear payment for Charon. Mercedes doesn't wear the coins. But she doesn't laugh."

"That's her business. Not mine!"

Mercedes raised her hand and looked at Kiku, "Sorry. What's my name being dragged into now?"

"No Riley. She's got a very good point, and I'm going to hold you to an answer on that question. If you don't believe. Why carry boat fare?"

Dennis looked over at Mercedes who stared him down with her arms crossed, he then looked over at Akemi who had her hands behind her back and leaned forward with a wide eyed and expectant glare at him, a stupid smirk on her lips he wanted to go wipe off with his fist.

"Cholera! Why does this matter to anyone? Maybe I just wear them because everyone else does?"

"You don't give a damn about social conformity Riley. I don't honestly care if you believe or not. I don't give a damn if you can ever give me an honest answer or not. I just want to live to see the day you figure yourself out."

"What are you my father now? What's it to you anyway?"

"I'm starting to wonder… What about you Akemi? I know you understand enough even if you can't speak it to save your life. What do you believe?"

Akemi turned her head towards Efren with her grin maintained, "Riley-sama has head in his dupa," she said with a firm nod causing everyone to laugh hysterically.

"Akemi. Why do you call him 'sama' isn't that for royalty and gods? Or is that only in my language?"

Akemi shook her head, "Before. We call him Hime-sama. Before, he have hair like you. Then he cut it. So I call him Riley-sama."

"Oh my gods…" said Dennis while slapping his face with both his palms.

Efren slapped Dennis in the shoulder, "There, you see Riley? There are no atheists in moments of despair."

"It's a figure of speech… For the love of the- Grr! Cholera! It's just a stupid figure of speech alright!"

"You used to do your hair like mine? I know you find it attractive, but what possessed you to do that?! Didn't you realize you were asking for it?" Wondered Kirino while trying to contain her laughter.

"I used to have long hair. One day I lost a bet. So I had to wear my hair like that for a day. Five years later I still haven't heard the end of it!"

"Oh my god, that's funniest thing I've ever heard! I wish I could have seen it," laughed Kirino.

Akemi was instantly beside Kirino with a handheld computer at the ready, "Anta matiá?" Asked Akemi while pointing to her eyes and then to the screen.

"Do I want to see? Hai!" She answered enthusiastically.

"Good, you're starting to pick up on the common words you know we use. Keep it up," said Kiku, "Language is practiced. You'll pick it up in no time."

Meanwhile, Akemi swiped through her photos until she found the one she wanted and showed Kirino a picture of a much younger Dennis Riley on the day in question. Kirino started laughing so hard her stomach and sides started to ache. Apollonia and Kiku quickly rushed over to see and started laughing just as hard.

"Itialuit! Skata sta moutra sou Akemi! Now I have the boss and the hottest woman I've ever met laughing their asses off at me. Domo arigato!" he said while heavily emphasising the Pluton to make sure she understood his indignation.

Akemi smiled at him brightly, "Baka malaka! That's what I'm here for, dear Riley-sama."

Kiku waved over the black haired girl, "Mercedes, you have to see this!"

"Who do you think took that picture?" She answered while snickering mischievously.

"Baka malaka? I know what Baka is, but what's malaka?" Asked Kirino in her mirth.

"It's means a lot of things," said Kiku, "man, dude, person, but literally, and in that context, it means wanker."

"Do we have to teach her all the bad things first?" Asked Apollonia in disappointment.

"That's what everyone starts with in every language my love. Besides. Pluton is an excellent language to curse in. We're very blunt with our rudeness," answered Efren while moving beside his fiance and wrapping an arm around her. "So, I think it's safe to say your escorts have left you alone by now. So if you all want to go do something that we shouldn't know anything about. Now's your chance."

Kirino looked around at everyone curiously, Dennis was nodding at Efren and Apollonia was hugging Efren back warmly. Meanwhile Akemi and Mercedes were minding their own business and going through more old pictures.

"Don't worry Efren. I'll keep an eye on everyone," said Dennis.

Efren looked deep into his eyes, "Just be smart, make good decisions…" Efren then leaned in and lowered his voice, "And don't even think about trying to put the moves on the Knight-Commander. If I see you with a black eye tomorrow… Riley-sama… Your dignity will be the the thing you miss the least," Efren then raised his voice again and spoke authoritatively, "Wakarimasu ka?"

"Katalavéno," he said while coming to attention like a professional soldier.

* * *

Kirino and Kiku were then lead into a cavern deep under the city through a veritable maze of underground tunnels. A quick look around told her that this was a long abandoned mining facility that probably dried out so long ago that it was simply forgotten by most people except for the few who knew what was to be found down here now.

At their destination, there were many young people all over the place, there was loud music being played by a band on a stage across the cavern. Bars were carved into the side walls. It was a night club. Just like what you'd find on Earth.

"Why hide a place like this?" she asked.

"Because it isn't productive for society. Places like this simply lead to the proliferation of vice," explained Kiku.

"Isn't that the point of a place like this? To give people an outlet for their urge to just go out and have fun after a hard day?"

"One could make that argument. Yes. Those who would agree with you build places like this."

"What do you think about it Kiku? Do you not want to be here? We can leave if you don't," she said while putting a hand on Kiku's shoulder.

"Honestly My Lady. I have no strong feelings one way or the other. I think both sides make valid arguments for and against having places like this."

"That didn't really answer my question you know…"

Kiku took a deep breath and sighed to herself, "No. I suppose it didn't. I don't mind being here. But let me just warn you that these places aren't as well hidden as they'd have you think. The secret police do get people into these places to keep track of things. They tolerate it, but only barely. They find it more useful to know who comes here and what goes on than to shut them all down at once."

"A yes or no would be sufficient. I need something definitive here," she asked more firmly.

"Yes. We can stay."

"I'm glad. Now can you, for one night, just call me Kirino and enjoy this with me?"

"I can't do that My Lady. I have my duty to you, even now."

"Alright then. You're temporarily fired! Now you're just here as my dearest friend."

"Very well then. I can accept that. Kirino."

Hearing her name brought the brightest smile to Kirino's face that Kiku had yet seen from her. She took her friend by the hand and pulled her with her through the crowd towards where the others had gathered and were waving them over from. The music was so loud she couldn't hear anything anyone was saying anymore.

The next thing she knew, she was being handed a small ceramic cup by the lavender haired Akemi. She brought it to her nose and took a sniff of what it was. She knew alcohol when she smelled it, and this was some potent stuff. She looked around and saw everyone in her group had one raised towards her. She brought in her cup and they all knocked them together before taking their shots. It was just as strong as it smelled. It was like drinking fire. But it left a very pleasant aftertaste unlike anything she'd ever sampled before.

After a few rounds to work up a decent buzz Dennis extended a hand to Kirino and invited her to dance. She tried to refuse. Protesting that she didn't know how to dance, but he wasn't accepting that. A moment later Mercedes and Akemi were on either side of her and forcing her onto the dancing space where they started showing her how they danced here. In a line with a lot of fancy footwork that wasn't nearly as complicated as it looked at first. Kirino had the hang of it very quickly. It wasn't long before Kiku cut in between her and Mercedes and joined them in the dance line.

The music was an assortment of strings, woodwind, and a very catchy drum beat that set the pace of everyone's movements. She couldn't understand much of the lyrics to the song but she wasn't even listening that hard anymore as she felt lost in the energy of the crowd. Kirino looked around and saw everyone with happy expressions on their faces. Smiles, laughter, a few people falling over from too much alcohol and drawing laughs. Everywhere she looked it was an eye full of people having fun! With their arms linked together, hands resting on each other's shoulders they roamed in a large circle to the beat of the music.

Suddenly the music changed. A new vocalist, a young woman started singing a very upbeat song that had the lines breaking up into couples with Dennis taking Kirino before anyone else could have a chance, leaving the three others to themselves.

"Are you having fun yet Kirino?"

"Yes Riley! A lot! But I'm curious. What is this music? Did they invent it here? I've never heard anything like it before!"

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"I love it! But what are they singing about?"

"Mostly funny stories. Some are political. This one right now is just some nonsense about fertility, music, and inebriation."

"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll?"

"Three of my favorite things, after you of course! Excuse me a moment, I'll be right back!"

He left her there with the others and vanished into the crowd. After a while the vocalists changed again and a new song started, and so did the style of dance once again. It was another circle dance with different footwork. Much less complicated than the first, but with more energy. Dennis made it back in time to take his place next to Kirino again.

"What is this song about now?"

"It's a request I made!" yelled Dennis loud enough to be heard. "It's about a really sexy Terran girl!"

"He's messing with me now right?" she asked Kiku.

"No. He isn't. That's really what it is. The chorus asks if there's a girl more beautiful than a terran girl. And says no there's no girl more beautiful than a terran girl. There are no stars brighter than her eyes… And so on," she explained.

Kirino looked over at Dennis who winked at her, she blushed and smiled back at him. "Very flattering!"

After the dance was over the band was taking a break and left some relaxing string music playing over the speakers while the crowds sat down for a rest and to load up on more alcohol. "So what exactly is this stuff we're drinking?" asked Kirino while smelling her cup to try and figure out what it was made from.

Kiku leaned over to speak close to her ear, "It's called Tsipouro. It's made from pomace. It's something that we import from Earth. It's what's left over from wine production. It's used as fertilizer but some of it goes missing and ends up in places like this. Go slow with it My La- Kirino. It's very potent stuff."

"I noticed that. So tell me why-"

Akemi started tugging at Kirino's palto which cut her off and drew a curious look from the Knight-Commander. "Give it to me," said Akemi while holding up her other hand with a threaded needle in it.

Kirino undid her sash and slipped the palto off and handed it over to Akemi who quickly set about embroidering into the thick cloth with an intensely focused look on her face.

"I think she's been inspired to start your design," observed Kiku.

Kirino clapped her hands happily, "I can't wait to see what she came up with!"

Dennis meanwhile couldn't keep his eyes off the tight shirt Kirino was wearing now that she'd been stripped of her palto. He hadn't realized until the coat was off her torso how impressive her chest was. He knew Kiku had a well developed bust, but Kirino's was even more impressive. They're weren't intimidatingly large. But they were the 'slightly more than a handful' he loved the most. A trait she shared with Mercedes, who then stood up and grabbed Dennis to pull him over to the dance floor without any protest from him as the band began to play once again. A soft song with a relaxing pace.

He smirked cockily into her eyes, his posture adjusting to allow her eyes to roam his sculpted upper body, "You know you're going to make Akemi insanely jealous right now. Right?"

"Shut it Riley. I just got sick of you so blatantly checking out Kirino's rack."

"Feeling jealous by any chance? Your tits are still my favorites!"

"Pierdol sie baka!" She yelled and then slapped the side of his head.

Dennis laughed at her, "I love it when you go all tsundere! It turns me on so damn much!"

"Urusai! You're laying it on Kirino really thick. You've been around Efren too much!"

"Well the man's got game. Nothing wrong with taking notes from a master."

Mercedes grabbed a fist full of his shirt and pulled him in close se she could yell into his face, "Don't try to sleep with her. Or I'm going to rip your dick off!"

Dennis for his part winked coyly and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Please. I still owe you sex for paying my fine. Why would I go off with Kirino?"

"Sometimes Riley. I can't tell if you're arrogant, delusional, or just plain stupid!"

"All of the above. I aspire to greatness," he said while leaning in closer to her ear, "Have I ever told you why I like sex for money better than sex for free?"

Mercedes pulled her head back and narrowed her eyes in warning that his next words could get him slapped.

"Sex for free is more expensive."

Mercedes shook her head and left him on the dance floor. "I'm going to go hang out with Akemi. Remind me never to imagine that you can act like a gentleman sometimes."

"If it'll get me into your bed I'll be whatever you want me to be. I'll even dress like a dog!"

Meanwhile, Kiku brought Kirino out onto the dance floor when the beat of the music picked up again. It was a couple's dance number and simple to teach. "Kiku. What's with you all of a sudden? You're like a different person!"

"Not at all. This is all part of who and what I am."

"Well. It's nice to finally see a new side of you. I feel like I'm getting to know you better."

"Likewise Kirino. It's good to see you getting out of your shell to have fun. Riley seems to really like you."

"I like him too. He's a fun guy! I get the feeling you don't like him much though?

"I have mixed feelings about him. But I know him better than you do."

Kirino took a deep breath, she felt her heart thumping her her throat as stepped in closer to Kiku, "Are you maybe jealous?"

"Jealousy isn't a factor. The man is a sociopath. I just want you to be happy. That's all I care about."

"I am happy. I'm having a very good time!"

Suddenly her palto was put over her shoulders and then Akemi started dancing next to her and pointed at the left sleeve. Kirino stopped and took a close look at what she put there. "It's beautiful! But what does it mean?"

Kiku inspected the sleeve closely and then looked up at Kirino and leaned in close to her ear to speak, "It says that you are both kind and open minded. Wearing that on your left sleeve means that these aren't traits you show everyone."

Akemi then pulled up the right sleeve to show to Kirino.

Kiku looked at the design and and nodded in agreement with it, "This one doesn't have a translation. But to simplify the explanation... Putting this on the right sleeve means that the person greeting you should be cautious when dealing with you because you make the rules."

Kirino smiled brightly and then turned to Akemi and embraced her appreciatively. "Domo arigato Akemi-san."

"Parakaló, Kirino-san," said Akemi while returning the hug. "I am happy I could meet you," she added. Akemi then pulled Kiku in close to them and pulled out her portable computer, she held up and away from them as far as her short arms could reach just enough to get them all into the frame to take a selfie.

" **Astynomía!"**

" **Mystasty are coming!"**

" **Run! Mystasty!"**

"What's happening?!" Asked Kirino but nobody took the time to answer. Kiku and Akemi just grabbed her and started showing her to a way out. The only thing she saw were glimpses of armored men with riot shields and batons savagely beating their way through the crowd. "Why are they doing that?!"

There were no answers. There was no more music. There was just the cries of pain, and the screams of horror as people repeatedly shouted out the word Mystasty over and over to get people ahead of them to move faster for the tunnels which were hopefully clear for escape.

Akemi lead the way through the caves and took turns away from the crowd deeper into the tunnels. There was no light at all this far in except for the flashlight of Akemi's portable computer.

"Akemi. Do you know where you're going?" Asked Kiku.

"Hai senpai! Ja mam chártis."

"She says-" started Kiku.

"I understood enough. Just tell me why all that happened just now!"

"Those men were the Secret Police. Raids like tonight's are not a question of _if_ they will happen, but a matter of _when_ they will happen. Alcohol is illegal. Nightclubs are illegal. Parties like that are illegal."

"Why though? I don't understand what the problem is."

"I told you earlier My Lady. These kinds of activities are unproductive for society. The law is harsh, but it is the law. If we break it we should be prepared for the consequences. That's really all there is to it."

"Yet here we are running from the consequences. Isn't that a little hypocritical Kiku?"

"Would you like to go back and get beaten with a baton until you need six months of reconstructive surgery? And another year to learn how to walk again?"

"No. I certainly do not! But why are they so harsh about it?"

"It's just the way it is. The laws are in place because society can't sustain itself if things like this are commonplace… In time, maybe you'll understand exactly why we have to be this way," answered Kiku.

"But why? I just can't wrap my head around it."

Akemi sighed and struggled for words, "Earth... takes from us. But Earth gives no-thing back. Wakarimasu ka?"

"Hai. Katalavéno," she answered dejectedly. "I hope she doesn't blame me for the Imperium's tax policy…"

"She doesn't Kirino. Don't take it personally. We're all frustrated here because of it. I don't pretend to understand the economics of it all enough to explain why things are this way, but what I do know is that the system is rigged to keep our currency weak so our resources are cheaper. Add to that, we don't even own our own natural resources, the Imperium does. Because of the Common Heritage laws. So we have to pay taxes on everything we mine. On every drop of water we harvest… Honestly, it's coming to a breaking point for us."

"I don't honestly understand it all either Kiku. But I want to… But right now… I'm just getting drunker. I hope Riley and Mercedes made it out safely."

"Don't worry. Those two can take care of themselves, let's just focus on getting back to the city."

* * *

 **November 23rd, 755 I.C.**

* * *

The next morning Kirino turned over in her bed and curled up into a fetal position but the world simply wouldn't stop spinning around her. It frustrated her to no ends. She was trained to deal with dizziness and still be able to pilot and fight.

She then pushed herself up and looked around, realizing she was back in her hotel room. "How? When?" She wondered aloud and then looked down at her pillow again and fell back into it. "Oh yeah… That happened…"

The next thing she heard was the sound of liquid being poured into a cup followed by a fizzing noise. When she opened her eyes again she saw Kiku sitting on the side of her bed holding a glass in one hand and the other to help her sit up. "Uuugh, this isn't humiliating at all…"

"There's nothing humiliating about it," Kiku said to her in a stern tone, "You have a hangover. You're not the first person to go through this, you're certainly not the only one enduring it right now, and you will not be the last. Now drink this, it will make you feel better."

Kirino took the glass and brought up to her nose to smell. The scent alone made her stomach churn and her body cringe. "Do I want to know what this is?"

Kiku stared blankly at the Knight-Commander, "It's medicine. Drink it," she said in a flat monotone.

"Yes mother…" Kirino muttered and then forced herself to drink it and ignore the foul taste.

The pinkette took the glass back from Kirino after she finished the contents and stood up from her bedside. "Give it a little time and your symptoms should go away."

"If they don't…" said Kirino while curling back onto the bed in the fetal position, "You have my permission to euthanize me."

"Then let's hope it doesn't come to that… I'll go get you some breakfast."

Kirino suddenly felt even more nauseated at the memory of the food she'd had so far.

* * *

Akemi slowly walked down the stone carved steps of her home in nothing but a loose fitting morning robe with her eyes half closed. She had to focus on each step and hold the wall for support to keep from wobbling and falling over. "Ohayou Onee-san," she heard from down the stairs.

"Giasou. You sleep alright?" Akemi replied groggily.

"Yes. Did you?"

"Do I look like I slept well?" She remarked with irritation as she entered the kitchen.

"No."

"Then obviously I didn't…" she said while putting a glass of water in a receptacle on the kitchen wall and then pressed her finger to a button and started filling the glass. A message then appeared on the display with her name and how much more water she was allowed today.

Next she opened a drawer and pulled out a small packet and opened it up to pour the powdered contents into the water, making it fizz up. "Thank you gods for this water…" she said in the most respectful tone of voice she could force herself to take in her present mood and then started gulping in big sips. "So where are mom and dad? I didn't sleep in did I?"

"You did. They already went to work. Shouldn't you be at work too?"

"Shouldn't you be in school?" She retorted.

"It's saturday."

"That's nice. Did you have breakfast yet?"

"Yes. Mom left your share in the fridge."

"Nice... " she murmured.

After getting her food out of the fridge she sat down with it at the table and gave her thanks to the gods before she started eating. "Well. Riley and Mercedes aren't answering my calls. I think they're in jail right now. So, you wanna go do something today?"

"That's bad…"

"Yes. It is. But I can't do anything about it myself. I just have to wait until someone who can, does. So do you wanna hang out with me?"

"Sure I guess. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, what do eight year olds like to go and do these days?"

"Can you take me to work with you? I wanna see your mobile suit for real!"

"You know I can't do that, the industrial area isn't safe for anyone who doesn't know what's what," she said to him sternly.

"Awww, that's no fun."

"I'm not working today anyway. Like you said, it's saturday. I'm going to the temple later and you get to come with me."

"Aww. Do we have to? You got to the temple more than the Priests do! Also it smells bad there… Like rotten something."

"It's garlic. It's what we give to Hecate as an offering in exchange for her blessings. Don't make fun of it, it's blasphemous."

"I'm sorry…"

"Good boy. After we go pray for our family we can do whatever you want. As long as I can afford it. Alright?"

"Yay! Arigato Onee-san!"

* * *

Later that morning Akemi was sitting on a bench and watched her little brother while he moved about a playground near the temple. At first, the little boy was thrilled at the opportunity to play here but as the hour went by he was becoming less enthusiastic about being here. Eventually she got tired of frustrating herself with the situation and called him over to her, "Hideaki? Could you come over here for a minute?"

When the boy was standing before her she put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "Are you not having a good time here?"

"Nobody knows me here and they don't want to play with me…" he answered sadly.

"When I was your age I made a lot of friends here."

"You're a pretty girl. I'm just a weird boy."

"Thank you for the compliment, but you're not weird. Believe me. So what is it? I know you're not shy."

"They think I'm weird. All I have to talk about are books and school and stuff."

"What kind of things are these kids interested in?"

"Computer games and movies and stuff."

"Ahh. So that's why you were trying to reprogram your computer."

The boy nodded to her, "Yes. I'm still sorry about that. But everyone else can do it. But I couldn't. And they made fun of me for it in school."

Akemi let out a solemn sigh for her brother and pat the bench beside her. "I know what that's like. When I started school here I got made fun of alot too."

"How could anyone make fun of you? You're so cool! You can do all those amazing things!"

"No talking about that remember?" She said to him sternly.

"I'm sorry. So what did you do about them making fun of you?"

"When I was just a year older than you this girl stole my underwear and hid it from me. It was so humiliating, I had to spend the day wearing a skirt with nothing under it. Then after school she pinned them to the bulletin board in the hallway and everyone started making fun of me. I was sad, angry, and all that. But I decided that it was a waste of time to feel that way…"

"You just let it go?"

"Hell no I didn't let it go! But I had to get smart about it. I could have just retaliated. But if I did she would have escalated it and then it would have just kept going. I wanted to win with one decisive blow. So the next day I took a dive in gym class and got excused to visit the nurse. On my way there I snuck into the locker room and emptied out her hair cleaner. I replaced with with hair removal cream."

"You seriously did that? That's so mean!"

"I told you I was evil didn't I? Everyone knew it was me who did it. But nobody could prove it. Eventually after enough bad things happened to people who messed with me nobody ever messed with me."

"I guess you didn't make many friends after that?"

"No. I didn't. But the next year was when I was brought to the new school to learn how to become what I am now. That's where I met my best friend. But, that required a lot of work on my part. But it was worth the effort. Point is, you'll eventually make friends. But you have to be open to it and you have to make the effort. Do you understand?"

"Yes. But do I have to try now? I sort of just want to hang out with you."

Akemi couldn't keep the bright smile off her face at her brother's words. "Sure. Since my idea was a bust, why don't you tell me what you'd like to do instead?"

"Can we go to the arcade?"

"Hmm, as long as you don't break the bank on the really expensive games. Why not?"

* * *

Kirino walked up a street surrounded by her servant, knights, and police officers as they made their way towards the home of one of the seven dead men they were investigating. The Knight-Commander had a book in her hand which she was struggling to read from, "Kaló apóyevma… Tun...Tunn-ga-hu-git… Jak tam? Am I saying any of this right?"

"Tunngahugit. The real trick is getting your tongue to co-operate with you as you flow through the syntax, but once you start building the vocabulary it will come naturally.

"Sumimasen Kiku, nie wiem ikajuq mean?"

"That was perfectly said. So what don't you understand?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I'm just reading the phrases," she replied with a sincere smile.

"I can't help but wonder why Her Ladyship would even bother struggling to learn a language she will never employ again once her business is concluded here," said Delgado in a condescending tone.

"If you can't figure out the answer to that on your own then thinking clearly isn't your forte. I'd ask you to refrain from further thought if you please," she said in a dignified voice.

Degaldo's eye's narrowed in irritation, "I can not bring myself to understand this obsession you're developing with this God forsaken world. I mean, we are in the same place are we not? There's hardly any light. Every building is exactly the same as the next. You can't tell night from day. The food is lousy, and there isn't even so much as a bar anywhere to be found. Which also begs the question, just what the hell do people do for fun around here?"

Kiku snickered in amusement, "People have hobbies here like anywhere else. We have cinemas, books, game centers... Most activities here are what you might consider family friendly. As for bars… That's more an indulgence than a necessity of life. The absence of a day and night cycle is something you get accustomed to. This far out, the sun is just another star among the many billions of others. We don't depend on it to survive."

"So what is it Dame Kirino? What is it that draws you to this… place?" Delgado asked again.

"As we've established that higher reasoning is beyond your capabilities, I'll simply point out that it is part of our duty to be able work with these people. Understanding their culture and learning their language is a first step towards that end."

"I wonder if Her Ladyship can say that in Pluton yet? It's not like any of these people know how to speak English. So why I should I bother if they won't meet us halfway?"

The policeman walking beside the Knight scoffed at him, "Some of us do. We just prefer not to."

Kirino looked over her shoulder back at Delgado, "I wonder if Sir Travis would like a black eye to match his lip?"

"You don't have to go that far My Lady. Just watch me," said Kiku, "Sir Travis. Why don't you try asking this gentleman here what his name is?" She asked while gesturing to the policeman beside her who grinned back at her knowingly.

"Very well. What is your name good sir?"

The Policeman turned his head towards the Knight with an irate glare in his eyes, "Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz." To which Delgado widened his eyes in horror.

While Delgado struggled to figure out the name Kirino leaned over to Kiku, "Is that actually his name?"

Kiku shook her head, "It's a tongue twister, it keeps moronic off worlders struggling for hours because they think it's an actual name and they don't want to be rude. Using first names with people you don't know very well is a serious faux pas."

A short time later one of the policemen knocked on the door to one of the many identical housing units which made up the residential areas of Hades. One of the Knights wondered aloud how anyone could tell the buildings apart, but the question would remain unanswered because just then the door was opened by an old man who looked around at the Police and Knights at his door with curious eyes. He wore a brown palto with modest decorations on it, he was hunching forward slightly. His face was wrinkled, as were his hands which were also stiff with arthritis. His hair long fallen out.

Kirino stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the old man, "Good day to you Ojiisan. I am Dame Kirino Akiyama. May we come in? We would like to talk to you about your son Aeton," said Kirino in the Pluton she has been practicing all morning.

The old man looked Kirino in her red eyes and spoke in a tired voice, "What trouble has my boy gotten himself into that could bring the Police and five Knights of the Imperium to my door?"

Kiku quickly took over, "I apologize sincerely for the disturbance we've caused you. But I think it would be for the best if we were to discuss this inside."

The old man looked around at everyone once again, "Do all of you have to come in?"

One of the Policeman shook his head, "No sir. We do not. These two young ladies are the ones who need to speak with you. The rest of us will wait outside."

"Very well… You may enter," he said while slowly backing away from the door. The man was having a very hard time walking, every step he took was slow and painful for him.

Kirino and Kiku walked in behind him respectfully. Each apologized for inconveniencing him as the entered the house. Meanwhile Kirino could hear Delgado belly aching about not being allowed inside to perform their duty properly but she ignored him completely as she shut the door behind her in his face.

The old man went and sat on an old armchair in the living room and then gestured to the couch beside him to invite the two young ladies to sit.

"Kiku, could you do the talking? I'm not confident enough to even try this… This is the first one of them that has living relatives…" said Kirino in a low voice.

Kiku nodded and took a deep breath, "Ojiisan," she started saying in as gentle a tone of voice as she could muster, "I must regretfully inform you that your son Aeton has crossed the river. Our deepest condolences for your loss."

The old man looked down at the floor for a very long and tensely silent moment. Kirino felt even more awkward because she could hear Delgado conversing with the policemen outside and making a fool of himself.

"How did he die?" The old man asked in a low and hoarse voice.

Kirino looked around for a tissue or something to offer the old man but there wasn't anything like that anywhere to be found in the room. Against her better nature, she had to sit back in the uncomfortable moment and trust in Kiku to know how to handle the situation.

Kiku sat up straight with her hands on her knees, she took a moment to choose her words carefully before answering, "He was on a ship. Near Venus. The Imperium boarded it for an inspection. He, and some others with him… They all took their own lives to avoid being captured."

Tears streamed down his face as the information seemed to be sinking in, he looked up at Kiku and made eye contact with her. Kiku tensed up but didn't avert her gaze no matter how uncomfortable it made her. "But now you come to my home with the very Knights who caused his death… Which side are you on child?" He asked of her.

"This lady is the Knight-Commander of Volubilis station. She had nothing to do with what happened to your son. She was ordered to come to Hades and learn what she can about your son and the people who were with him. Please do not be upset with her. She is merely trying to carry out her duty in the most respectful way she possibly can."

The old man nodded and looked over at Kirino with bloodshot eyes, he sniffled harshly before speaking again, "If she doesn't understand. Explain this to her. My son was a good man. He helped people. He cared about his fellows. He took care of his elders. He healed the injured and the sick. He did his work the best he could. He was given the opportunity to travel and help people. That's all I have to say about him. It's all anyone needs to know about him. Tell _that_ to your superiors. If they have any shame at all, they should be wrecked by it!"

"Hai… Katalavéno, Ojiisan," said Kirino with her head lowered.

"I would like you both to leave now. Before my grandchildren and my daughter in law return. I should be the one to tell them. Not you."

Kiku and Kirino both stood up and bowed deeply to the old man. "Our deepest condolences. We will show ourselves out."

Kiku was the first to exit the house, followed by Kirino who shut the door behind her. Each with downcast expressions.

Delgado looked them over with contemptuous eyes and folded his arms over his chest. "What? You weren't even in there for five minutes. How much investigating could you have done? You didn't even question the old fart did you? You didn't search the place. How will this look on your report to Prince Leon?"

Kirino shook her head, "I don't give a damn. We're not bothering him anymore than we need to. There's nothing to be gained from it. He's just a tired old man who lost his son and has to explain to his grandchildren and their mother why their father and husband won't ever be coming home."

Delgado started walking up to the entrance of the house, pushing a policeman and Kiku out of his way as he did so. "Weak incompetent woman! Stand aside! As a Knight of the Imperium I am relieving you of your command and assuming your duties. I'll tear this place apart with my own hands to find what we need!"

Kirino didn't even think, she simply drew her katana, took it in both hands and stepped into position to have the point of her sword against the man's throat with the sword held at her chest hight, her elbows recoiled and ready to thrust. "Take one more step Sir Travis, and it _will_ be your last. Our oath will not allow you to disrespect this man's home. On my honor as a Knight, I _will_ enforce it!"

The three other Knights immediately went for their side arms but the police were much quicker on the draw and had theirs pointed at the heads of all of them including Kirino, Kiku, and Delgado. The standoff escalated, and nobody knew what to do in the situation.

"Kill me and they'll certainly shoot you. So what will you do?" Asked Delgado with a prideful smirk on his swollen lips.

"What have I told you about addressing me as 'you' Sir Travis? You clearly don't understand your situation right now. I _will_ kill you. Whatever comes next is out of my hands."

"If you were going to kill me you would have done it by now. You could barely kill when your victim was half your age, defenseless and chained like an animal, we both know that. So I ask you again. What will you do? Stand down, and you prove yourself to be weak and unworthy of your command. Kill me, and you'll die. Then every Knight on Volubilis station will descend upon this worthless city and destroy your pathetic little friends here. What matters more to you? Your pride? Or all their worthless lives?"

"You're banking on them shooting. What if they don't? Then you'll be the fool," she said to him in an even tone.

"No. I'll be dead. What comes next is out of my hands. But it will be on yours. So what will it be? Are you willing to gamble with those stakes?"

Kirino looked around at the confused faces of the police with their weapons pointed at everyone. Kiku was staring up at Delgado with narrowed eyes which suggested that if Kirino didn't kill the man, she would probably try. She took another look into the eyes of the man with the gun pointed at her head, he was nervous, sweaty, his hand was shaking. In his hands was a revolver, the hammer was cocked, it wouldn't take much pressure to make it fire, and if this standoff went on much longer his finger would probably slip and pull that trigger.

"I don't know whose side you will take in this. But, if I stand down, would you be willing to take these men into custody until I can take them back to the station for proper punishment?"

The man with his gun at Delgado's head, the same one who was playing the tongue twister joke on him earlier spoke up confidently to answer the question, "Yes Your Ladyship. To put a stop to this we'd do it gladly. Just put the sword away."

Kirino nodded at the man and stepped back away while sheathing her sword in one fluid motion. The policeman pointing the gun at Kirino lowered it and very carefully uncocked the hammer while the other man relieved Delgado of his sidearm and longsword. Then the two men escorted him away from the house while the other three Knights were disarmed and taken away as well.

Kiku then went over to Kirino and hugged her tightly. It was a surprising but not unwelcomed gesture. Kirino didn't realize how much she needed a hug until her arms were around Kiku and embracing her tightly. "Through your actions you've earned my people's respect. I am proud of you."

Their moment was interrupted by one of the policemen coming to them and clearing his throat. "Excuse me. Dame Kirino. Could you tell me what this is? We found it on one of your Knights."

Kirino took a small rectangular device from the man and widened her eyes when she saw the state it was in. "It's an emergency beacon… It's been activated!" She hurriedly explained while throwing it down on the ground and stomping it under her boot to destroy it.

Kiku looked up at the dark roof of the cavern. "There's just over a kilometer of rock between the roof of the cavern and the surface. Could the signal reach Volubilis?"

"We wouldn't have them if they couldn't... We need to get me to somewhere I can contact the station. Just to let them know all is well and order them to stand down."

The policeman gave her a firm nod and gestured up the street, "This way then. We'll get you to our headquarters. You can contact them from there while we sort out your men."


	4. Pluto - Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
** " **A War in the Pocket"**

 **November 23rd, 755 I.C.**

* * *

The headquarters of the city police were located in the Ministry of Public Security. Somewhere between the residential and industrial sections of the city. The building stood much taller than the surroundings, at least twelve floors from what Kirino could see, but a quick look at the top of an elevator door in the lobby showed the building also went deeper underground for at least seven floors as well.

The interior was dimly lit, even this place was consistent with the lighting all over Hades. There were metal benches bolted to the floor, and handcuffed people sitting in most of them waiting for their turn at whatever fate awaited them for whatever brought them here.

As she was lead past the reception desk she heard a passionate discussion, from what little she could make out it sounded like a mother begging to be allowed to visit her child. But she was being vehemently denied. Plutons were usually excessively polite, but the man at the reception desk was being very rude to the woman, pointing at her, and then pointing at the door and telling her to leave, threatening her with arrest if she persisted. Kirino's eyes shifted around at everything in her field of view, the expressions on all the people who obviously weren't here of their own free will made her very uncomfortable. They were the faces of people who'd given up.

"Kiku. May I ask why-"

Kiku quickly shook her head at Kirino, "Not the place."

Kirino slowly nodded her understanding as they left the lobby of the building and proceeded through a heavy security door down the hall from the elevators. Pluto was known for its advanced technologies but one who walked around the city could be forgiven for not finding much evidence of that. Walking into what appeared to be the nerve center of the local police. From where all of their activities were coordinated. Holographic displays showed images of buildings, underground tunnels, and persons of interest. Desks where operators communicated with officers in the field and tracked their progress on monitors.

The Knight-Commander and her servant were lead into a back office where an elaborate communications system and its operator awaited her. The policeman escorting her gestured for her to be seated at the desk and freely make use of the equipment. After a moment to express her gratitude she approached the young woman operating the equipment. First she took a moment to confirm if the lady spoke English, which she did. Kirino then gave her the communications frequencies for the station which she wanted to contact and the lady quickly sat down and got to work. Once the system was appropriately adjusted she handed Kirino a headset which she put on and started speaking into.

"Volubilis station, this is Dame Kirino Akiyama, recognition code Lima, Hotel, Mike, Bravo, Bravo, Zero, One. Over."

There was a tense moment of silence. Kirino was about to repeat her message when she got a response. "Identity authenticated. Request sitrep. Over."

"Situation yellow. Authenticate Foxtrot, Alpha, Niner."

Kirino tapped her foot impatiently while the communications officer on the station did whatever it was he was doing, she sighed with relief when she heard the distinctive sound of the line being opened again. "Understood. Code white in effect. Communications terminating."

"What?! No! Damn you!" Kirino ripped off the headset and fell into the second chair at the desk. The room fell silent and all eyes fell upon her to explain what happened. "It seems I'm no longer in command of my space station. I gave them the code that should have told them the situation was a false alarm. But the code was changed. His response meant that the code I gave him indicated that I was making this transmission under duress. That means they'll be launching Mobile Suits soon. If they haven't already."

The policeman broke into a cold sweat and bolted for the door, "I have to inform my superiors!"

Kirino was surprised by the man's actions. She expected to be immediately blamed for the situation. "What? He believed me? Just like that?"

The pink haired servant nodded, "Yes My Lady. We already know you've been set up. By Sir Travis and the others."

The Knight-Commander looked up at her servant in surprise, "How would you know that? More importantly, do you have proof?"

"Yes. Don't be offended, but they didn't realize the Mystasty are quite literally everywhere. Your shuttle was bugged so they intercepted the signal you told Sir Travis to send back to the station on your behalf. He gave instructions for one of his allies to assume command as soon an emergency beacon was activated. He ordered that should a beacon be activated it meant that they were in trouble and that you've betrayed them. He cut you out of the chain of command. I was informed about the contents of the recording this morning and asked to be vigilant for you."

"Damn it… I was completely blindsided by this. I knew they would try something eventually but I didn't expect anything so brazen! I suppose that bastard was right about one thing. I wasn't strong enough for this command."

Kiku put a hand on Kirino's shoulder and gently squeezed it, "That simply isn't true. From where I'm looking, it just seems like you weren't willing to lower yourself to the level required to earn their respect. If it's worth anything to you right now, it's the reason you have my respect. And my people's."

Kirino rubbed the bridge of her nose while going through her options. "There are four mobile suits in the spaceport we can use to protect the city. If we can make my errant Knights give up the security codes to their operating systems we can use them."

"What if there was another way and they didn't have to give up their codes?" Asked Kiku in a calm voice.

"Then I'd need three other pilots willing to go up against ten or more Imperium Sentinels."

"I can get you one pilot. But what will you do My Lady?"

"If I go out there, I think I can get them to stand down. Failing that. I can hold them off long enough to get the civilian population into emergency shelters. I assume you have those right?"

"Yes of course we do," said Kiku in response. "And I fully agree with you plan. Let's get to the spaceport. We can hold them off there until help arrives. The spaceport is a very large area full of many different ships. It'll afford us decent cover and it's a low gravity environment. It's also the only way in or out of Hades that they would know about which a Mobile Suit could make use of. The perfect place to set a trap."

"What help?! Who could help us? From where? The nearest Imperium warship is on patrol near Saturn! And what's this **we** stuff Kiku? Do you plan to try and pilot a mobile suit? Don't be absurd. It's not like doing my laundry!"

Kiku laughed at that and pulled Kirino by her hand out of the chair towards the door, "No. I actually find the laundry much more difficult."

"Kiku! This isn't the time for jokes!" Said Kirino while pulling back on Kiku to keep herself stationary.

"It isn't the time for questions either! _**We need to move!**_ " She exclaimed while pulling harder on Kirino and dragging her through the door, "You can question me about it later..."

"Damn it! You're a lot stronger than you look! And we need the codes!"

"Mopping floors builds up good arm strength…" she muttered in response. "And no we do not! Just trust me. We don't need anything from those fools other than the opportunity they have presented us to make them look more foolish."

* * *

Despite any protests she offered, she was placed inside the back of a patrol car with a driver who immediately took off at high speed with the siren blaring. Kiku was seated beside her, up straight with a look in her eyes so alien to Kiku's otherwise normally serious but kind eyes. But at this moment, her eyes were hard. Her stare was disconcerting to the Knight-Commander, even after years in a military environment dealing with people who've been through combat, the glare in her servant's eyes combined with the dim light flashing through the car from the street lights was worrisome.

Kirino sat with her sword's scabbard on the floor, her hands around the handle while looking over at her servant with growing trepidation. "Kiku… There's something different in your eyes… I'm honestly a little afraid of you right now."

"I'm sorry Kirino. For everything that's happening to you. If things had been different life could have gone back to normal. I really do enjoy working for you. I enjoy your company, and I value your friendship. I hope when this is over we can somehow remain as we were."

"Kiku… What is it with you all of a sudden? Is it just because your home is being threatened? I'm going to protect it the best I can. It's my duty as a Knight."

"Yes. And I'll be there with you. Because that is my duty as well."

"You're not making any sense!"

Kiku sighed and turned her head towards the dark haired woman. "We don't have a lot of time, so I'll try and tell you what you need to know right now. I didn't come to work for you on the station out of my own free will. I was assigned to the job. I was sent because it was decided that I was the most psychologically compatible person who could earn your trust."

"Are you saying that-"

"Yes. I was sent to spy on you, and your Knights. I wasn't trained to do menial labor. I'm a member of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance Military, Special Forces."

Kirino squeezed her hands around the hilt of her sword and leaned more heavily upon it. "The SSA military still exists? It's been over a century since that war! How did they survive?"

"We don't have time for questions right now. All you need to know is that the SSA still exists and has been rebuilding for another attempt at independence for its member states. But right now that's not even important. What is important is that those Knights are going to come in here and do a lot of damage to this city if they are allowed entry."

The car came to stop and Kirino looked out the window to see the spaceport. People were pouring out of the doors and running as fast as they could. "Very well… But I want answers after this is over."

"You'll get them. I promise. Let's just get moving," said Kiku while opening the door and climbing out.

* * *

In one of the hangars stood four of the Imperium's MS-17a Sentinels. Twenty meter tall heavily armored humanoid war machines known as mobile suits. The design language for the Imperium's suits were sharp angles on everything with a slender frame for improved aerodynamics. Four articulated engine pods mounted on the shoulders and hips. Two articulated mounting points on the back allowed it to carry weapons configured to the pilot's strengths. In the case of the four suits present Kirino singled one out that was close to her own preferences with two large calibre cannons mounted on its back. It had a rail gun rifle but no close combat options. Kiku looked up at the machine Kirino had chosen and nodded to her.

"So how do we activate them without the security codes?" Asked Kirino.

Kiku closed her eyes and held out her hand to the machine. Kirino folded her arms skeptically while she waited to see what would happen and then became slack jawed when green glowing lines appeared all over Kiku's face and hands. A circuit board like pattern glowing brightly from under her skin, flowing over every bone. "Interface," she said softly.

The mobile suit began coming to life with its eyes glowing yellow and then the cockpit entry hatch located in the middle upper back opened. "Disabling security features. First layer defeated… Second layer bypassed… Third… disabled. All security features nullified."

The entry hatch of the mobile suit then lowered a steel cable for the pilot to be hoisted up to the cockpit while Kirino took a deep breath to recompose herself. "Those security features… Biometrics, encryption… How?! Without even touching the machine?!"

"All security systems have one fatal flaw…" she explained while directing her hand to another of the mobile suits. "They are designed by human beings, and no human being is infallible. Every security system has a vulnerability. In this case of this one, nobody working on it could ever have anticipated my method of attack."

"Which is?"

"You can't honestly expect me to tell you that Kirino? The fact that you know it can be done is already problematic enough. If we weren't in this situation you would have remained ignorant."

"Ignorant to the fact that you were sent to spy on me? The Knights were working for themselves, you were working for whomever down here. Is there anyone on that station working for me?"

"Do you really not already know the answer to that?" She stated flatly.

"Just tell me this Kiku… Was anything between us real? Our conversations, our friendship? Or was it all part of the act?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I said yes. So what's the point of asking?"

"I suppose you're right… Just answer me this then. Are you any good? Can you actually operate that mobile suit competently?"

"We'll soon find out won't we?" Answered Kiku while running up to the entry cable of her mobile suit. "I tuned your communications system to our frequency!"

Kirino groaned loudly while grabbing onto her own entry cable. "Of all the... " she muttered to herself. "...This is so stupid!" She yelled at herself. As she climbed into the cockpit and got into the seat she couldn't help but smile and laugh at what she just said, "Heh… Now I know why he likes saying that..."

As she activated the systems, the cockpit sealed and pressurized. Her first throughs were towards a strategy, so she began a scan of the surrounding area to compile a map of the facility. She'd have to do with with minimal movement. Without a proper flight suit the g-forces would be intolerable.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her communications system activating. "Dame Kirino. Can you hear me?" a male voice sounded over the radio.

She pushed the transmit button on the right side hand control set, "Loud and clear. With whom am I speaking?"

"This is Efren Valerio. We met twice before. What you don't know is that I am a Commander in the Mobile Suit Corps of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance Navy."

"Very well, _Commander_ , do you have a plan to defend the city?"

"Yes. But first. I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"Are you prepared to kill your own Knights? We know it was hard enough for you to kill one who tried to murder you."

"If they don't take my orders to stand down from this attack, then they won't be my Knights anymore, will they?"

"Answer the question. I can't trust you to fight this battle if you can't pull the trigger. Rising up in defense of our world is admirable. But if you pull that trigger, there's no way back for you. I need to know that you understand what you're about to do."

Kirino looked at the screen in front of her and clenched her teeth tightly while arming the weapons. "There's only one thing I understand. The oath I swore to uphold. That I will act with valor... My heart shall know only virtue... My blade shall defend the helpless! My might shall uphold the meek! My words speak only truth! **My wrath undoes the wicked!** And forever more, this oath is my bond!"

While tapping the controls she breathed heavily to recompose herself. Then she put her foot down on the pedals slightly to lift her Sentinel off the ground and head out into long vertical tubular structure which would lead into the enormous docking area of the spaceport.

"...Good answer. Our ETA is ten minutes. Enemy ETA is four minutes. It won't take much for them to breach the spaceport gates. You're proceeding into the docking area for larger commercial cargo vessels. There are a total of seventeen ships presently docked. Use them for cover. The entire facility has been evacuated. Including the ships. Don't worry about collateral damage. Ships can be replaced. People can't. Just hold them off until we arrive. This battle will be over very quickly once we get there."

"That was my plan as well. How many mobile suits did Volubilis send out? And how many are you bringing?"

"Stand by, rechecking telemetry… Ten Sentinels confirmed. And we're incoming with two suits."

" **TWO SUITS?!"** She yelled incredulously.

"Yes. I know. Seems unfair doesn't it? Maybe I should do this with no hands? Our ETA is now eight minutes. Valerio out."

"Kiku, did you get all of that?" Asked Kirino while steering her Sentinel into the docking facility.

"I did. The odds are against us. We have to hold them here for eight minutes. That won't be easy. But it isn't impossible."

"The odds will still be against us even after that. Are two suits really the best you people can do for the defense of your own capital city?"

"Unfortunately the bulk of our military is hidden away on Charon. There are only a handful of experimental models here in Hades at any given time. But our suits are vastly superior to these Sentinels and the Valerio Team are our best pilots. Unfortunately two of them are in jail right now and I assume that if he's only bringing Akemi it means there wasn't time to get Riley and Mercedes out."

"Those kids are… I see. Now it makes sense. Apollonia is the developer of your military mobile suits, and the others are her test pilots."

"Not exactly… But this isn't the time for clarifications. Let's take cover behind that freighter at the top. There are two ships beneath it which we can make a break for when we get overwhelmed."

Once they were in position Kirino ran another scan which gave her a view of what was outside the spaceport as well. The ten enemy Sentinels were placing explosives on the outside of gate. Kirino switched channels on the radio and addressed them all directly, "This is Dame Kirino Akiyama to all Knights outside the Hades Spaceport. I hereby order you to stand down and return to Volubilis station at once. I will fire on anyone who would invade this place and put thousands of innocent lives in jeopardy. Repeat. If you enter here, you _will_ be fired upon!"

It was a tense moment while Kirino watched the group Sentinels back away from the gates and rejoin their formation. She wanted to take it as a sign that they would obey her orders, "Negative. Code White is in effect. We will not obey your orders. If we are fired upon we will return fire."

Kirino clenched her teeth and tightened her grip on the controls. With her fingers she brought up the mobile suit's target recognition system setting the transponder signals from the ten suits outside the gate as enemies and left Kiku's machine as a friendly. Once set, she focused her eyes on each enemy in turn and allowed them to be locked into the targeting system.

In an unfamiliar mobile suit, one she hasn't spent her career customizing to suit her combat style with her own macro commands and control response preferences, her confidence was low in her ability to fight at her best. But when the gate exploded before her there wasn't anymore time to think. All Sentinels had the same basic controls and performance. That was what she focused her mind on while waiting for her first target to come into range. With so much smoke she had to rely on the sensor data to find and hit her target. That lingering smoke also reminded her that the docking area wasn't pressured and that any damage to her cockpit would result in rapid decompression and death.

Then she felt it. Hesitation. She knew she had to pull the trigger or it would be her cockpit with a railgun slug passing through it. Or it would have been, if the distinctive trail of a railgun slug exploding the thin Pluton atmosphere around it hadn't missed the shoulder of her suit by a few meters. The next shot wouldn't miss she knew it, and still she couldn't pull the trigger. Suddenly from the corner of her eye she saw sparks flying off the front of a Sentinel and before long the cockpit was exposed and the pilot sucked out of his seat while the mobile suit fell down behind him.

" _ **Damn it Kirino! I don't want to lose you! Shoot!"**_

Kirino reflexively squeezed the trigger when she heard the angry, desperate, and pleading voice Kiku used to snap her out of her hesitation. The rail gun in her mobile suits arms fired straight through the cockpit of her target, dead center on the pilot. As a testament to her abilities, her follow through was flawless as well and before she realized what had happened she'd blown the arm off a second suit.

As her enemies closed the distance she pushed down the foot pedals while vectoring her thrusters to swing the suit backwards and down towards cover without any hesitation. The blood flooded up into her eyes as she pulled the negative-g dive and quickly righted herself to force the blood out of her head and tightened the muscles in her chest and legs to keep the blood flowing through the now positive-g maneuver until her Mobile Suit was standing on the top of a cargo ship and firing with her back mounted cannons to keep the enemy Knights at bay.

"Good job Kirino. Now I see why you were near the top of your class as a mobile suit pilot," said Kiku.

Kirino glanced around her environment and spotted Kiku providing support fire with her mobile suit's 120mm automatic rifle, pelting a Sentinel with bullets which caused damage to its armor and made the pilot rethink his attack plan.

"Sorry about that Kiku. It won't happen again. Be mindful of your ammo, you only have one spare drum. Expect them to split up and attack us from multiple angles soon. When they do that we should split and break for cover and take out any targets we get in our sights."

"Understood. Just keep your head in the game like this and we will beat them before Efren gets here!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves… Let's survive their attack first! _**BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!**_ "

Kirino and Kiku split off in different downward directions while firing up at the enemy Knights, through a red haze of blood pooling in her eyes Kirino held it together long enough to stop her fall and lock in on a target and fire. The railgun slug tore clean through the torso of the suit and a chunk of the pilot as well. She then turned her suit towards the Helium-3 tanker ship behind her and took cover again while she analyzed the sensor readings.

When she saw Kiku's maneuver she widened her eyes and yelled into the radio, "Kiku! Don't don't dive like that! Turn your suit around! You're in the negative! You'll be in-"

"Don't... Worry... About me! I can handle much more than you can! Worry about what's moving below you!"

An alarm blared in her cockpit indicating an active target lock was detected, she pushed the pedals all the way down and climbed up over the tanker and dove down head first around it while the enemy Sentinel followed. This time her vision started to grey out, but slowing down wasn't an option at the moment. She turned the suit around and returned fire with her twin back mounted cannons, striking the enemy suit once in the shoulder and another in just below the cockpit splitting the suit in two.

Four Sentinels were destroyed. One was fighting with only one arm but didn't seem to need it since it favored it's back mounted cannons and a shield. Another had sustained damage to its armor plating but was still capable of fighting. That made six targets remaining in all. Kirino glanced at her map and realized they were running out of space and they'd hit the bottom soon. She checked her ammunition next. One shot each left in the cannons, and three railgun slugs. Every shot had to be good from now on or this was over.

She presently hovered just under a barge of some sort and tracked two incoming targets. She strafed out from under the ship and fired straight up, knocking the shield out of the arm of the one suit she'd damaged earlier, and then followed up with two shots from her cannons, one at each of them. The now shieldless suit took the hit straight to the chest and though it didn't breach the armor, the suit fell down onto the barge and wasn't moving anymore. The pilot probably unconscious. The second suit pulled up and retreated back alongside the suit Kiku was engaged with into a formation. Five enemies remained as Kirino and Kiku both landed at the bottom of the docking area.

"I have two shots left in the railgun, and the cannons are dry. How about you?" Asked Kirino.

"Half a drum left, my cannons are also empty."

"Cover me then! One of the Sentinels crashed down here, I'm going to see if I can salvage a weapon! No matter what, we can't let them past this point!" Kirino shoved her controls forward and the mobile suit responded by running towards the crashed Sentinel on her sensors.

"Understood!" Replied Kiku while aiming her rifle up towards the formation of Sentinels hovering just beyond her effective lethal range. "Not exactly fair when you know all the weaknesses of your own weapons is it?" She mused.

The five Sentinels disappeared and dove down at high speed, Kiku started firing the moment she saw their engines ignite allowing them to close into the lethal range of her bullets while they were in flight. She fired convectively, three shot salvos towards every suit she could effectively target. Two of them had shields and were able to protect themselves easily. The third target sustained hits to its armor but the projectiles failed to breach. "Damn it... This rifle just isn't meant for anti-mobile suit combat…" she muttered to herself.

Kirino reached the downed Sentinel in the meanwhile and knelt her suit down to pick up its rail gun. By the time she turned and aimed with her original rifle she was greeted by a blaring lock on warning from her cockpit and before she could react two artillery shells struck the ground under her, destroying the feet of her mobile suit as well as it's auto balancing systems. She screamed in horror as the ground filled the view of her forward monitor while the mobile suit fell face first into hard Pluton rock beneath her. Were it not for the seat restraints her face would be in that monitor. She tried to get the suit to respond to her commands and flip over but the controls were dead. The only thing still working was the target lock warning. All she could do now was wait for the end which never came because the warning stopped amidst the sound of an assault rifle firing behind and above her head.

She started frantically hitting buttons and flipping switches in the cockpit to bring back up systems online and hopefully get herself moving again. When she finally go the monitors working again she saw Kiku standing over her downed suit defensively while four Sentinels rammed through the gate into the city and a fifth stood before Kiku and aimed its rail gun at her. Kirino widened her eyes in abject terror when she realized Kiku was completely out of ammunition and the enemy Sentinel was not damaged.

"You shouldn't have tried to protect me Kiku," said Kirino into her radio and then sighed in disappointment at the outcome of their battle.

"Having a cause worth dying for is meaningless unless you have something worth living for…" she replied mournfully.

The Sentinel before her raised its rifle straight at Kiku's cockpit and was about to fire when suddenly a beam of purple energy came through the rifle and destroyed it before the pilot could pull the trigger. Hesitation was his downfall as it was almost Kirino's earlier. The Sentinel staggered backwards but remained standing while drawing a massive solid metal sword from its left shoulder and holding it at the ready. But it was worthless. Several more beams came down and through the Sentinel disabling all of its primary system.

Kirino was too shocked to look around at anything but the damaged Sentinel struggling to keep standing. Then another mobile suit landed in front of it and pushed it down to the ground with its right arm. When it hit the ground the machine fired bolts of blue energy from its head down into the Sentinel's cockpit, obliterating the armor and the pilot.

The mobile suit was a make and model Kirino had never seen before. All she had at the moment was a view of its rear. With massive wings protruding from it back. It was impossibly heavily armored and shouldn't even be able to move with all that weight. But move it did. Gracefully even, just like an actual human would move, if said human was wearing a suit of very heavy armor.

The wings closed up into a thinner form but they were still the dominant feature of this suit. A single thruster was mounted between the articulation points with a vectoring nozzle. Above that was a weapon of some sort folded up in storage behind the head of the mobile suit. Black armor with golden lines adorning it. Gold circles around the wing's articulators. Gold lines at the tips of the wings. It all seemed to serve some purpose she couldn't identify. They were present on every major armor panel. There were even thrusters mounted in the lower leg assembly of the mobile suit with more gold lines adorning the covers.

The suit turned around towards Kiku giving Kirino a full view of its front. It was the eyes which caught her first. They were glowing crimson, like her own eyes. There was a golden V-fin mounted on the head as well that was a particularly striking feature. Then her eyes drifted to the shoulders of the mobile suit, weapons of some sort were mounted inside them. But prominently featured on the front armor panels of the shoulders were the distinctive emblem of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance. A red fist punching through and shattering a white circle. On the hips of the suit seemed to be some additional weapons she couldn't identify. In its left hand was a rifle that didn't seem to have an ammunition clip or drum attached to it. The Mobile suit then turned its gaze on Kirino's downed suit and it's right arm raised up and waved at her.

That had to be Akemi piloting it, she reasoned.

Suddenly another completely different looking mobile suit flew past Akemi at breakneck speed into the city. "Kiku-senpai! Bring Kirino-san into the city quickly!" She heard over the strange suit's external speakers and then it took off running down the tunnel towards the city.

"Get out of your cockpit and I'll bring you into my Sentinel!" Ordered Kiku.

Kirino was about to protest but when she saw the sensor readings she realized an emergency door system above her had activated to keep the atmosphere from the city being vented to the surface. Which also meant that everything outside was now pressurized. She nodded to herself and pulled the emergency lever beside her seat to blow open the cockpit hatch.

* * *

Akemi emerged from the tunnel into the city and looked around herself. Her cockpit was a sphere inside the torso of her mobile suit with advanced holographic display systems giving her real time updates on what her sensors were detecting. An artificial intelligence sorted out the relevant information and provided highlights all over her field of view.

Her attention was diverted when a video link was established with her. She looked over to see Kiku and Kirino inside the cramped cockpit of a Sentinel. When she saw how tight the interior really was she suddenly felt even more comfortable in her spacious cockpit with her plush and ergonomic seat surrounded by nothing but a crystal clear view of the outside. She was almost sorry that her helmet visor only showed her eyes because she really wanted them to see her gloat.

"Hello Kiku-senpai, and Kirino-san. How are you two doing in there?" She asked while stepping down on her foot pedal to thrust upwards above the rooftops towards the first Sentinel she could get in range.

"Akemi? So you were lying about speaking English? You're suddenly speaking very well!" Remarked Kirino.

"Heh. No. I still speak in 'Engrish' but my Gundam's AI can translate what I'm saying to you in real time. And vice-versa. She's the smartest of all the gods!"

"Gundam? Is that what your machine is called?" Asked Kirino in response.

"Yes. This is the Gundam Hecate! Efren's ahead of me in the-"

"That's _Commander_ to you right now Ensign!" stated Efren after cutting into her transmission. "Pay attention to what you're doing, this isn't the time to screw around!"

"Yes Commander! But I got the first kill! It's your turn to bust your cherry now!"

"Akemi. You're fighting a war. Not playing a game. Find the enemy and kill them!"

"Aye aye sir!"

Efren then turned his eyes towards Kiku and Kirino. "Kiku, do you have any weapons left?"

"Yes Commander. I have a railgun with six rounds."

"Good. I want you to hold position by the port and cut them off if they try to retreat. Be advised that I am about to initiate Electronic Warfare. Your communication systems will be affected as well as all your automated systems. So compensate."

"Understood Commander. We'll hold here. Good Hunting!" Answer Kiku in a professional tone.

"Electronic warfare?" Asked Kirino with an incredulous tone.

"Yes. His Gundam. The Persephone. Is designed for Electronic Warfare. He's going to need that advantage in this combat setting because if those Sentinels start going on a rampage, the damage they can do is unthinkable. He's also got a limited arsenal. The Hecate is designed for versatility, but the Persephone is designed for a support role. Also his primary weapons can't be used down here."

"Weapons which he can't use down here? What hell is he packing? The wrath of your gods?"

"Yes actually. That's exactly what he's packing. Think about it. Those two Gundams. Their names that you just learned..."

"Hecate? Persephone?"

"Yes. Persephone is the wife of Hades. _Hecate_ , though not a _true_ goddess, is her best friend. Those Gundams are named after a goddess and a _titan_. The weapons they have equipped are capable of destroying this city twice over."

"Something in your inflections, especially when you mention Hecate…"

"Akemi is probably the single most devout member of Hecate's cult. Piloting that suit makes her arrogant. I'm concerned that she might forget herself and do something monumentally stupid..."

"I think she'll be fine. But what does Gundam mean?"

"Gundam is the name of the class of mobile suit. Each is built from the ground up with experimental technologies. As am I sure you've deduced, each one is unique."

"What does the _word_ mean Kiku?"

"Gundam? I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you."

* * *

Efren waved his hand over a display screen beside his seat. The yellow glow of his implants passed even through the material of his gloves. "Initiating hacking field over maximum radius. Electronic Warfare systems online. Deploying wings."

The Gundam Persephone's wing assembly was very different from those of the Hecate. The wings spread out and split into six units with a glowing yellow honeycomb pattern to them. As he approached the two Sentinels he was pursuing towards the Ministry of Public Security they suddenly stopped moving and turned to face him. Efren looked at his telemetry and confirmed that his Electronic Warfare was indeed working. The Sentinels had now lost all their sensor telemetry and were effectively blind except for what they could see through their analogue visual systems. Their rifles raised up but there was no lock on warning.

"That's the problem when you rely on technology to do the piloting for you… Someone with better technology comes along," he said while aiming his beam rifle at the first Sentinel and fired straight through it's cockpit sending it falling into the street lifelessly. The second Sentinel took off and started trying to evade him.

"Hmm… I did want to do this with no hands. But you're being stubborn now… I can't shoot you down just anywhere…" mused Efren who then floored his thruster pedals and rushed towards the Sentinel where he grabbed a hold of it and started pulling it towards the outer wall of the cavern. Despite his prey's attempts to break free his suit was much stronger and produced more thrust than the Sentinel could compensate for. Before the hapless pilot realized what had happened the Sentinel was being thrown to the ground near an abandoned mining facility. Where they could fight without risk to lives and property. The pilot saw the Gundam raise its beam rifle to him and remembering full well what the weapon did their comrade threw down the assault cannon and put up the mobile suit's hands.

"Interesting…" said Efren who then waved his glowing hand towards one of the control panels to activate the external speakers for him. "Open your cockpit and get out of your mobile suit!" He ordered. "I'll disable it once you're out of the way!"

The cockpit opened and Efren observed as a young woman emerged and was lowered by the entry cable to the ground. She then started running away from her mobile suit as fast as she could move. Efren then drew the Persephone's beam saber and impaled the Sentinel through its reactor, shutting it down along with any hope of the pilot ever getting it working again while simultaneously relaying the information to the police to come pick up the pilot.

"Just stay put. You have my word you'll be fairly treated as long as you don't make things difficult for yourself. Our Police are on their way now."

* * *

Meanwhile, Akemi hovered her mobile suit a few hundred meters away from the two Sentinels she was tracking. Her screen lit up with a dizzying number of warnings. "Oh no… Efren! Do you read me! I have a serious problem here!"

"What's your location and situation?" Asked Efren while his image appeared on the display in front of her.

"I'm in the old city. Those two Sentinels came here because it hasn't been fully evacuated yet!"

"Get up closer and demand their surrender. Feel out your situation and do what you think is appropriate. You've trained for this. You can handle it. Don't panic, and don't over think. I'm on my way to you now."

Akemi nodded and stepped on the pedals while pushing her controls forward. Her beam rifle was too dangerous to use with this many civilians around still fleeing into the shelters so she stowed it on the lower back of the Hecate and drew another weapon from the hip of her Gundam. "Ascalon," she murmured to herself and with a glowing purple hand squeezed her controls and activated the sword, two purple force fields activated from the emitters to form a long triangular, and near perfectly sharp greatsword which she held firmly in the Gundam's left hand. Akemi's own hand squeezed the left control tightly as if feeling the grip of the weapon itself.

Once she was close enough she cleared her throat and glared down at her enemies with the Gundam's red eyes. Unlike those Sentinel's heads, the Hecate did have something resembling a face, everything about it was designed to be intimidating, so she exploited that. "This is Ensign Akemi Meiousei of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance. Stand down and I won't kill you! Harm anyone here and I will kill you slowly!" She commanded over the external loudspeakers.

One Sentinel raised its 120mm assault rifle, but it wasn't pointed at Akemi, it then stomped its foot forward and shook the ground beneath it causing a group of fleeing civilians to fall. "Negative" replied a male voice from the Sentinel's loud speakers. "I demand the immediate release of the four Knights presently being held here as well as the unconditional surrender of all SSA Terrorists hiding here on Pluto. If you fail to comply, I will open fire and I won't stop until our demands are met." Meanwhile the second Sentinel took off and aimed its assault rifle at the Hecate.

"I know everyone has a right to be stupid, but you're seriously abusing that privilege! You call us terrorists while taking innocent people hostage and making demands? Do you see the irony?"

" _Akemi… Look at the people more carefully. Look close and look hard,"_ said a strange feminine voice that sounded like it was right beside her. She looked to her left and downwards at where the voice originated from. Her eyes widened to their fullest and her heart stopped beating when her eyes locked in on the group of civilians the Sentinel had at its mercy. Her own family was among them. She saw their terrified expressions, her brother crying and clinging to their mother. Her father holding them both protectively.

Her next reaction was instinctive, she shifted her eyes back to the first Sentinel and stared directly at its assault rifle's ammunition drum, the head of her Gundam moving along with her and the twin particle cannons mounted there adjusted their barrels and fired with no warning to the enemy pilot. The rifle exploded in his mobile suit's hands.

Responding to her thoughts the Gundam dove for the ground and landed between the civilians and the second Sentinel, she raised the right arm and activated an energy shield which blocked all the bullets it sprayed her with. "Run! Everybody run! I can't fight back with all of you here! **RUN!** " She ordered over the loudspeaker.

The mobile suit firing at her switched its weapons and fired with High Explosive ordinance from its back mounted artillery cannons, impacting the shield and forcing the Gundam to stagger backwards from the force of the explosive impact.

"Mother! Why is Onee-san here? Why are they trying to hurt her?! What's happening?" Asked the little boy being while being carried by his mother.

"No time for questions. We need to go!"

"Mom! Dad! Run faster!" Yelled Akemi while directing her head mounted particle cannons back to the first Sentinel to keep it at bay while simultaneously running to keep her shield between the second Sentinel and the fleeing civilians. She was helpless to do anything but protect the people. She couldn't fight back yet.

The first Sentinel leaped into the air to dodge her particle rounds and took aim with its shoulder mounted cannons to return fire. The shots came in short intervals impacting her shield and staggering her suit, the second shot impacted her suit's torso in the right intake system but the armor endured the hit with no problems. The same however could not be said for the pilot as a screaming Akemi was thrown around in her cockpit so hard that the seat restraints almost fractured her rib cage. Finally there was a third and fourth shot from the Sentinel above her, she brought up her shield to block the first shot and leaned into it to stop from being knocked around, the shot was absorbed by the shield as it was meant to, but the second shot's angle was deflected by the shield. The entire right side of Akemi's field of vision greyed out as the dust and smoke consumed everything.

Responding to her instincts, the display system adjusted to include spectrums of light which would allow her to see through the smoke and check for lifesigns. To her horror there were none. As the smoke cleared, the sight filled her eyes with tears. There was little to nothing left of the twenty people she'd been trying to protect.

Akemi turned her head towards the floating Sentinel above her and pushed the foot pedals all the way down, sending the blood rushing from her head as the g-forces pushed her into her seat.

The Hecate heaved the energy sword up over its head and back as it approached at top speed. The Sentinel started backing but it wasn't nearly fast enough once the Hecate spread its wings and ignited its boosters. Her armored flight suit tightened around her to force the blood back up into her head and keep her conscious. With a swing of the sword the Sentinel was bisected just below the cockpit.

Meanwhile the first Sentinel took off and started firing its artillery cannons at her but the Gundam was moving faster than the guns could keep up with. After disabling the second Sentinel she accelerated in a wide arc and came around to the first Sentinel that started it all. The Gundam's right arm pulled back and the armor on the forearm elevated and extended a large metal spike with which she impaled the Sentinel straight through its cockpit. After withdrawing it she sliced it vertically with the Ascalon's blade sending the halves to the ground without a care for what they landed on.

Akemi wasn't finished yet. Her breathing was rapid and heavy, her suit issued her a warning that her heart rate was dangerously high but she ignored it as she accelerated towards the downed Sentinel who's pilot she had chosen to spare until she had time for what she really wanted to do.

The Hecate landed beside the upper torso of the crashed Sentinel which lay face first in a dusty old street. The pilot was crawling out of the back of the suit and looked up at the Gundam with his hands up.

Akemi found that unacceptable! She stepped forward and put the Hecate into a kneeling position. She shut down the systems, the holographic system vanished revealing the spherical metal walls around her seat. She opened the forward hatch and the forward section of the sphere came down into a walkway between her seat and the exit hatch. She didn't even bother with the exit cable to disembark.

She leaped out of the cockpit and onto the knee of her Gundam and then took another jump down to the ground. The distance she jumped with no effect stunned the Knight as he watched her walking towards him.

Akemi tore off her helmet and muttered a single word to herself, "Overclock…"

Purple lines and circles appeared on her face. The glow emanating from under her skin was bright, and pulsing with energy. The Knight had no idea what he was seeing. The capacity for rational analysis was quickly fading away from him with each step this small lavender haired girl took towards him.

With inhuman speed she charged the Knight and leap up to the top of his Sentinel and grabbed him by the throat. He tried to pull her hands off him but somehow this girl half his size and age was immensely stronger than he was. He then tried to hit her. Across the face, in the kidney where her body armor didn't cover, but either she couldn't feel it, or she didn't care.

" **Shine!"** She shrieked at the top of her lungs.

She released the man from her grip and threw him down four meters to the dusty street and then jumped down after him.

When he started trying to crawl away from her in terror, it just made her even angrier.

" **Shine!"** She yelled again while grabbing his leg and using her hands to break it at the knee.

His cries of agony were like music to her ears as she did it to his other leg.

" **Shine!"** She screamed yet again while picking him up by his arm and used it to throw him at the foot of her Gundam. She could even hear the crunch of his spinal column breaking apart at the impact but somehow the man was still alive and pleading for mercy with his eyes.

" _Shine…"_ she said to him with tightly clenched teeth as she grabbed his head in her hands and started smashing it into her mobile suit's foot. " _ **Shine! Shine! Shine!"**_

After she had bashed the Knight into an almost intangible pulp she staggered backwards and fell down onto her knees. With empty eyes she gazed down upon herself, indulgently admiring her blood soaked hands. Her lips curled into a twisted and malevolent smile as a booming explosion of hysterical laughter emerged from deep inside her very soul.

Then her vision started fading as a shock to her system began to take effect. But she still continued laughing maniacally until she couldn't breath anymore. Her chest felt heavy, her lungs incapable of drawing air until she collapsed face first into the dirt.

Meanwhile, Efren Valerio hovered over the scene in the Persephone with Akemi somehow completely oblivious to his presence. He inhaled sharply, closed his eyes tightly, and turned his head to the side. Grimacing with clenched teeth to compose himself upon exhaling.

With a wave of his glowing yellow hand at a control panel he sent a call for an emergency medical team and then landed his mobile suit next to the Hecate and grabbed his first aid kit with him as his exited the cockpit. When he reached Akemi he pulled an auto injector out of his kit and administered the medication to her.

* * *

 **November 24th, 755 I.C.  
**

* * *

"All told… This could have been much worse," said Efren. "Pluto owes the two of you a debt for your bravery in slowing the progress of the Imperium attack long enough for us to arrive and mop up. I'm sure the Administrator will want to express her gratitude in person but the Government are busy redrawing their plans as we speak."

Kirino slowly nodded, but couldn't lift her head to look at the man. "How's Akemi? I heard a bit about what happened to her," she asked in a solemn voice.

"She's been hospitalized, but she's expected to make a full recovery. Physically speaking anyway. We can only speculate about her mental condition right now."

"Poor girl completely snapped. To do that to herself just to kill one man… She knew what the consequences of that could be and did it anyway," Kiku mused aloud.

Kirino looked around at the room she was in. Some kind of meeting room deep under the city with the distinctive Sovereign Spheres Alliance emblem prominently spray painted onto the wall behind where Efren stood. The red fist punching through one of the circles of unity which symbolized the Earth Sphere Empire and its Imperium. Kiku was now wearing a black military uniform and from the look of it she was a somewhat decorated soldier. A Sergeant if she understood the rank insignia. Both she and Efren wore bands around their upper right ams with the SSA insignia upon them. It made her feel even more out of place and alone than she already felt given that she was still wearing her white Knight-Commander uniform.

"Sorry to address the elephant in the room. But, what happens to me now?" Asked Kirino.

Efren took a seat across from her and drew a breath, "I've been authorized on behalf of our Government to make you an offer. In recognition of your bravery, and all that. We'd like to make you an officer in our military."

"You want a Knight-Commander, to join the Sovereign Spheres Alliance?" Kirino asked in a dry voice. She was too emotionally drained to muster any passion at all.

"Exactly. We don't have many experienced soldiers. Even fewer experienced officers. You have a lot to offer our cause. You have real training, real experience. We sort of muddle through it all based on whatever knowledge we can steal from the Imperium's training facilities and academies. A few officers here and there have joined our cause and helped develop our training programs. So yes. Every time we can get one, we will."

"So what? You want me to train your mobile suit pilots? Is that it?"

Efren shook his head. "No. But, wait. Why do you ask? Were we that bad?"

"No. I didn't mean that! I'm just curious what you'd possibly want me to do for you," said Kirino defensively.

Efren smiled at her, "There we go. I just wanted to hear a little passion from you. Good or bad. You were looking so lifeless over there I was worried we might have to start CPR."

Kirino rolled her eyes at that, "Now I see where Riley gets his charm from."

"If he was good, I'll take that as a compliment. If it was bad, I'll take it out on him later."

"It was good. But that's beside the point right now. Do you even realize how absurd your request is? I can't just-"

"You can't what? Join us? You realize that you joined us the moment you opened fire on your own Knights. I even asked you, clearly, if you understood the consequences of that action. I pointed out that once you started fighting for our people, there would be no way back for you. No way back to the Imperium."

Kirino closed her eyes and lowered her head again with her teeth tightly clenched.

"You know I'm right. You knew all of this. Probably from the moment you decided that your sense of honor demanded you stand up for our people. Your own people betrayed you. If you want to continue to serve your own sense of integrity. We're the only option you have."

"I took an oath… I can't betray that!"

"I heard your oath. Which line of it required absolute obedience to the Emperor to uphold? Unless I missed it, I heard nothing of the sort."

"A Knight who turns her back on her order is not a Knight!"

"You didn't turn your back on your order Kirino. They turned their backs on you! Can't you see that?!" Kiku pleaded forcefully.

"Not the entire order… Just the few here who-"

"You're making excuses now," Efren said cutting her off. "You fired on them. You killed three Knights with your own hands. You only ordered them to stop once. You didn't try to explain to them that they were being used. You asked them to stop, and when they refused, you fired on them."

"As I would with any insubordinate Knights!"

"If you want to go back, what's waiting for you? A court martial if you're lucky. But I don't think you'll ever make it to one. Those Knights on Volubilis won't let you ever make it to a trial where their schemes, and the schemes of many other Knights like them will be exposed for the public to see. The Imperium wouldn't give you one either. Such a trial would only further validate our cause," explained Efren.

"He's right Kirino. You know he's right. You know how corrupt the Imperium is. People like you are the minority now."

"And what makes the SSA so righteous? You lost the war a hundred years ago. Since then you've existed only in terrorist cells bombing innocent people all over the Imperium!"

Efren shook his head, "It's the unfortunate nature of the beast. People have frustrations. The Imperium doesn't allow peaceful demonstrations, doesn't allow people to speak out against them. What do you expect? Do you expect people to simply contain themselves and do nothing while the Imperium squeezes them for taxes and resources and simply accept it?"

"Bombing civilians is wrong no matter which way you spin it!"

"Ordinarily I'd agree with you. But people have a right to resist by any and all means available to them. When you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable! And you're no different from us now. You saw something very wrong about to happen and you took up arms to stop it!" he stated bluntly.

"How can you justify terrorism? Beyond that, how can you justify the system here on Pluto? One might argue it's even worse than the Imperium and the only thing keeping you from becoming even worse is the Imperium itself!"

"Ahh. Her real opinion comes out. Simple fact is, you can have security, or freedom. Not both. Under Earth rule, this is the only way we can sustain our civilization. When we stop having to sell precious natural resources to pay for our taxes we can use them to expand our cities, build new settlements, and perhaps one day make this Technocratic system obsolete. But that day isn't today. Today we live every day on the brink. Because of the Imperium. If you don't see that as an injustice worth fighting against with _every_ means at your disposal then you're obviously not who we thought you were."

"We're not the only ones suffering under this system Kirino. Everyone has problems sustaining their own existence under the Imperium. That's why people join the SSA, that's why they fight back."

"The system you people propose to replace it is pure anarchy though!" Kirino protested.

"Anarchy? That's Terran propaganda if I've ever heard it. How is each sphere being entitled to self governance, and self determination independent of the Imperium anarchy?"

"Because it would split the Human race into different nations and reignite all the old conflicts which the Imperium put a stop to! What's to stop the Martians from going to war with the Jovians over Asteroid mining rights then? What's to stop the Plutons from fighting the Tritons over Kuiper belt resources?!"

"A little thing we like to call civilization. The Sovereign Spheres Alliance doesn't just go away after it wins. It remains in place to keep the peace and bring member nations to the table to resolve disputes. Just like the ancient United Nations tried to do before the Imperium washed it all away."

"Washed it away because it failed…"

"Maybe. But history has been white washed by the Imperium for generations. We may never know what actually happened back then. But what I know for sure is that the way things are now, is unsustainable. That's part of what it means to have self-determination. It means having choices. The power to decide for yourself what's best for you and your people."

"Interesting that you want the things you deny your own people here on Pluto."

"Our way of life has been cultivated over seven hundred years, and we're only still here because it works for us. It's easy to pass judgement, but if you actually lived our lives, you'd understand why it has to be this way. Besides, even if I think we could liberalize some things. I still couldn't live under a system which gave all the material wealth to a fortunate few while leaving others with nothing. So if you expect us to become a capitalist paradise like Mars or Earth, I'll die before I let that happen. But nobody on our side is suggesting that our system should be put in place on Mars, Venus, Jupiter, or even Earth. It's up to their people to decide how they want to live. What they find acceptable and intolerable. Not us. And not the Emperor!"

"I do respect your way of life. I think I've even made friends here. Could I live like you people? Maybe. I don't need all the indulgences I could enjoy on Earth. But can I condone some of what you people do in the name of your cause? Never."

"Can you say the same about the Imperium? Can you condone their policies? Their corruption? Their entitlements over the colonies?"

Kirino shook her head, "No. I can't. You're asking me to choose between two evils..."

Kiku nodded at her, "Yes we are. Question is. Which to you is the lesser of two evils? Where do you think you could gain the power you'd need to fight for what you actually believe in?"

"Alright… So what do you actually want me to do for you?"

"You have actual command experience. You've lead mobile suit teams. You've even commanded a carrier. Most recently a space station. We'd like you to help plan our assault on Volubilis station, and join my team."

"You people don't make small requests do you? You ask me to defect, and then you ask me to lead an attack on a space station which until today I was in command of. Possibly killing a good portion of my crew."

"Yes. It would prove your loyalty beyond the shadow of a doubt, and it would ensure our security for the time being. At this moment we have a cloaked ship jamming all of their communications. But we don't have much time to do this. If we leave things as they are, the Imperium will start diverting ships here to find out what's happened. We need to board the station and start sending the all clear to the Imperium. You have those codes."

"Cloaking technology… Energy based weapons… Whatever Kiku did to bypass the security systems on the Sentinels… Electronic Warfare packages that can be mounted on a mobile suit... Where the hell did you people get all this stuff?"

"If you want those answers. You need to join us and take Volubilis. Then you'll be given the clearance to know everything you need to know. Along with a full commission into the SSA Military as an officer."

"And if I don't?" She asked pointedly.

"I think you will. But if you don't, we're not going to put you into a prison cell. We'd make you comfortable somewhere in the city, you'd have everything you need. But you won't ever be allowed to leave. And this offer will never be back on the table."

Kiku looked up at Efren with a firm glare in her eyes, "For the record Commander. If she refuses. I would like to resign and stay with her."

"Would she even want you to now that she knows the truth?" Asked Efren, mostly to Kirino.

Kirino heaved a heavy sigh, "Kiku and I obviously have some things to work out. But our recent experience together has shown me that while she was my servant under orders from the SSA, being my friend was a choice she made. As is my choice to continue that friendship."

Kirino and Kiku then locked eyes and smiled to each other.

Efren nodded, "I gather that you've come to a decision?"

Kirino nodded firmly and stood up, "I have. I'll accept your offer. But there are conditions."

Efren leaned back in his seat with an amused look on his face and gestured for her to continue.

"First. I'll need a Sentinel repaired and rearmed. It should be possible from all the-"

Efren considered that for a moment, "No, those Sentinels are much more valuable in the hands of our Engineers who will dissect them for useful intelligence and combat data analysis," before Kirino could protest Efren put a hand up to cut her off, "But. I'll arrange to get you one of our mobile suits. It won't be a Gundam, but it'll still be superior to any Sentinel. Sergeant. Please get her a uniform and give her a crash course on how we do things around here."

"One other thing Commander!"

"What is it?"

"The language barrier. Not everyone speaks English. I trust you'll fit my machine with one of those translation systems?"

"They all have them. And all our officers have to know multiple languages. It's mandatory to be able to deal with our allies. It would still be better for you in the long run to continue learning our language though."

"How do you explain Akemi then?" Asked Kirino with an amused brow raised up at him.

"When we finally figure out the secrets to life, the universe, and everything… Maybe then we'll find something with which to explain Akemi Meiousei."

"We haven't even mentioned Riley and Mercedes," Kiku remarked.

"Beyond the fact that I have to go get them out of jail now. Let's not."

* * *

Some hours later, Efren stepped out of the front passenger seat of a car in front of the Ministry of Public Security. He then quickly opened the back door to let Kirino and Kiku out while holding it politely and then shut it behind them.

Kirino tucked her sword into her belt and adjusted her new uniform self consciously. "I feel ridiculous in this... Even at it's height the SSA didn't have what anyone would consider to be a respectable military."

Kiku slapped Kirino's hand to make her stop fidgeting, "Now we do," she said while adjusting her belt for her. "Uniforms and all. But we keep the armband as a reminder that once upon a time that was all they had to distinguish themselves with."

"You don't have to do that for me now Kiku. You're not my servant anymore," she pointed out.

"Force of habit. Besides, without me looking after you, you'll just be an even bigger slob than when I first met you."

"I wish I could argue with you on that… But moving along. When did Pluto join the SSA? And how did the movement survive after all the leaders were executed at the end of the last war?"

"The military leaders were the ones executed," answered Efren. "The civilian government went into hiding and were never found. They set about rebuilding the organization and kept the movement going despite being forced underground. We were always part of the SSA from the beginning. It wasn't until about fifty years ago that we developed the capacity to build an actual military to aid to the organization,

"Horrible as it might be to say. Losing that war was the best thing that could have happened to Pluto. Thanks to that, certain circumstances and discoveries made our rapid technological development possible. Now we are able to produce ships and mobile suits which are vastly superior to our enemy's. We won't be fighting the next war with salvaged weapons mounted on cargo ships. But even under those circumstances we did well holding out as long as we did."

"I still have so many questions that I don't even know where to start… But is it alright for us to be wearing these uniforms in public like this?"

"Yes. This far from the Earth Sphere, you won't find many people with any real love for the Imperium. Especially not after what just happened."

"Alright. Last question before we get to business…"

Efren and Kiku both looked at Kirino expectantly.

"You could have put a stop to that attack before it even happened. If you knew my Knights were going to betray me, you could have warned me."

"Yes. We could have. But there was also the strong possibility that they wouldn't have done anything while on Pluto and then all of you would have simply left and this whole thing would have been your problem and not ours. You're the one who stuck a sword in that man's face and escalated things."

"That's cold… But unfortunately true. You're going to blame this all on me now are you?"

"No. That would just be unfair. I'm not that much of a dick," he said while gesturing for them to start moving inside.

* * *

For his next item of business, Efren was brought to wait alone in one of the many interrogation rooms. Shortly thereafter his two young subordinates were brought in wearing handcuffs and made to sit down in front of him.

"Well? What do you two have to say for yourselves this time?" Asked Efren.

Dennis looked up at him with a smirk, his left eye however was swollen shut. "Do you honestly have a fuck to give about what happened to us right now Efren?"

"Not particularly. No. We're at war now. So I need you two to pull your shit together. Akemi's in the hospital. She Overclocked."

Mercedes stood up in her seat and leaned in to look close into Efren's eyes but was then forced back into her seat by a policeman. "Get off me! Go get fucked!" She yelled at the policeman. "Is Akemi alright?! Tell me Efren! Is she alright?!"

"Calm down Mercedes," Efren said and then pointed at the policeman and then to the door. "Get out. Now! What we need to talk about you don't need to hear."

The Policeman grunted in frustration but complied with the order. Once he was out of the room and the door was shut Efren held up his hand and activated his implants, the lines under his skin gave off a yellow glow as he shut off all the listening devices in the room.

"Alright now that we have some privacy. I won't lie to you Mercedes. Physically she'll be fine. But her family were killed right in front of her and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. She's going to need you now more than ever. Both of you."

Mercedes' eyes watered up at the news, she remembered how often Akemi had tried to convince her to come to her home and meet her family, and now she'd never have that opportunity and it crushed her heart. She brought her shaking hands up to burry her face in. She hated showing weakness, but this wasn't a feeling she could contain. She knew how much Akemi loved her family, how proud she was to have been adopted by them.

Dennis meanwhile had nothing to say, so Efren continued speaking. "Dame Kirino has decided to join us. Her and Kiku held off the Imperium long enough for Akemi and I to get here in our Gundams and put a stop to their attack. She'll be joining our team. As my second in command. So I hope you two like her enough to take orders from her."

Dennis mustered up a smile for that information, "I'd proudly serve under her. And take her orders too."

"Riley! Look around you! Does it look to you like we're in the mood for your bullshit?

Dennis looked around and shrugged his shoulders, "What do you want? Want me to go back in time and change things? Want me to say I wish I could have been there for her? Would anything I could say or do make a difference to the situation?"

"You could try acknowledging it and keeping your mouth shut. What about you Mercedes? Are you alright with this?"

Mercedes took a deep breath and then looked up at Efren through teary eyes, "Akemi likes her… She's a good judge of character. So I have no problem with your decision. If she knows what she's doing and she's on our side now, then yes, I'll take orders from her. But if I think she's going to betray us, I'll shoot her myself."

"Fair enough. We're all on the same page then. Get cleaned up, get what you need, and then report to the spaceport by sixteen hundred. We're heading for the Acheron and then we're attacking Volubilis station."

"Will Akemi be alright to join us by then?" Asked Mercedes.

"She should be. But I won't authorize her to fight if she's not in top form. So it might just be the three of us and Kirino."

"What about the fleet?" Asked Dennis.

"They're holding near the station, jamming their communications and waiting for orders. Any more questions will have to wait. We'll have a full briefing on the ship. And Riley… When you get out of here, get that eye sorted. Depth perception isn't overrated."

"Yes sir!" They said while Efren opened the door and told the policemen to let his subordinates go.

* * *

Meanwhile in a similar but slightly larger interrogation room, Sir Travis and the three others Knights were brought in and made to sit down. The four men were brought in with handcuffs chained to their shackles to ensure they wouldn't be able to use their military training against the police.

A short time later Kirino entered the room by herself and carefully looked over the three men who also looked up at her in surprise. "I love that outfit. Does it come with a pole?" Asked Delgado with an amused voice.

"Laugh while you can, because things are about to stop being funny for you," Kirino retorted with a firm voice. "Incase you're still waiting for rescue, all ten Knights who came here from Volubilis have been killed or captured. Because of your little stunt a little over thirty people are dead, and things are about to get a lot worse."

"Any reason we should care?" He asked her nonchalantly.

"I didn't think my opinion of your could go any lower. It seems I've been wrong about a lot of things in my life, this included," she said while adjusting her armband.

Sir Alex looked up at Kirino with an angry scowl, "You're wearing the emblem of the SSA… Traitor!"

Kirino widened her eyes at him and then quickly narrowed them as if checking to see if he was serious. She couldn't help but laugh at him for that. "Hahaha! None of you… Have _**any**_ right to use that word. I only came here as a courtesy to you gentlemen. You'll be given a trial for what you did, and what you caused. Then you'll all be executed."

"By you?" Delgado asked skeptically.

"Unfortunately not."

"I assume you're here to offer a way out of this inescapable fate?"

"I could. Maybe. My new friends are pretty powerful around here. But unfortunately for you, there's nothing you have that I need."

"So you just came here to gloat?"

"Actually I was going to offer you a potential way out of this inescapable fate. But then you had to talk and ruin it… So I'll see you in hell," she said while walking away.

"Wait! Wait!" She heard one of the others plead. "He doesn't speak for us all! We'll help you! Whatever you need!"

It was only days ago she heard the same begging and pleading from a man who'd tried to kill her. She felt pity for him, but she had to put on a facade of strength in front of these men. This time, their pleading didn't affect her in the slightest and there was no need for a facade anymore. For better or for worse, she knew something in her had changed profoundly.

* * *

Akemi slowly came back to consciousness and looked around at her environment. The first thing she realized was that she was in a hospital room. She felt something up against her leg and looked down to see a head of black hair and the distinctive Martian designs on Mercedes' palto. It brought a smile to know her best friend would always be there for her when she was in trouble. Then she looked around the room expecting see any sign of her family when her memory came flooding back to her and made her gasp in terror loud enough to wake Mercedes who was quickly moving to sit beside Akemi and hold her by the shoulders to try and calm her.

The tears started to flow from her wide eyes as she recalled everything that had happened to her. Mercedes wanted to say something, but there were no words for this. So instead she gently pulled Akemi into a hug.

"My parents… My baby brother… Merce-"

"Shhh…. You don't have to say it. I already know everything," she cut her off and struggled to contain her own sadness.

"I'm alone again… All alone again…"

"No you're not! You'll never be alone Akemi. I'm here for you! I'll always be here for you! I promise!" She hated the thought of it, but after seeing Akemi's condition she knew Efren would never allow her near a mobile suit until she's had time to grieve.

Akemi held her friend tighter, she wanted to speak but no words came out of her mouth.

"We're going to finish what you started," said Mercedes. "We're going to attack Volubilis station. I will kill every last one of those bastards! They will pay for what they did. I promise!"

Akemi gripped her friend's palto tightly in her fists, "I'm coming too. You can't leave me behind. I feel well enough to pilot!"

"You nearly died!" Yelled Mercedes while pushing Akemi back so she could look her in the eyes. "You're not going into battle! I won't let you! Just take your time to deal with your grief. Nobody will think less of you for that!"

"I don't care what anyone thinks! I have to fight! I have to finish this!"

"No you don't! Let us finish it for you. We're a team! If the Doctor says it's alright you can come to the ship with us. But there's no way you're going into battle. Even if Efren says you can, I won't let you! Even if I have to break your legs! Do you hear me?"

Akemi's eyes fell off Mercedes and glanced down at the blanket covering her.

"Damn it Akemi… Say something. Anything. Even something snarky! I don't care!"

Akemi's eyes eventually returned to Mercedes and smiled before speaking to her in Martian, "Do you remember a little while after I learned how to ask if you'd be my friend, we got into that fight?"

Mercedes took a deep breath with relief that she got Akemi talking again, "Yes. I remember… What about it?"

"Remember when you decided that since I learned how to ask you to be my friend in Martian you decided to learn how to write in Pluton so could you send me a letter saying why you were mad at me and why you hated me and never wanted to talk to me again?"

"I still feel bad about that sometimes…"

"Remember how I replied to you?"

Mercedes started laughing at the memory, "Yes. You highlighted all my grammar and spelling errors and sent it back to me with a little note in Martian saying…"

"Bitch I can't read this. Lunch tomorrow?" They said together with a laugh.

"That's what I love about you Akemi. Your persistence. But you don't have to be that way right now. You can let me fight for you. Like you used to fight for me when people made fun of me all the time for not understanding how things work here."

Akemi shook her head, "I love you too Mercedes. A lot more than you probably love me and I value your friendship. But if I have to risk that friendship to fight the Imperium right now, I will. And then we'll have lunch tomorrow."

"You're so incredibly stubborn…" she answered with a heavy sigh. "Fine. I give up. If Efren says you can fly, I won't stop you. I won't like it. I won't encourage it. But I won't stop you. I'll go get your doctor and we'll see if he'll clear you to leave here."

"Could you hand me some water while you're at it?" Asked Akemi while gesturing to the pitcher just out of her reach.

"Sure… Can I get you anything else? Some food? A foot massage?"

"Cunnilingus?" asked Akemi with a wink.

"Ha! Glad you're still in there," said an amused Mercedes while handing Akemi the glass of water. After she drank it she took the glass back and set it back down in it place and then nudged the bedside table closer to her for easy reach. "I'll go find your doctor. I don't know how long it'll take. But don't worry. I won't leave this hospital without coming back to see you first."

After the raven haired Martian left the room Akemi lay back down into the bed and curled herself up with the blankets and held them tightly. The tears started flowing from her eyes again. She sniffled while searching for words.

"Goddess… I know this isn't a temple… And I don't have an offering for you... " she sniffled again, "But I beg you… Bring my family to a better place. I did my best to protect them… But I wasn't strong enough…" Akemi gripped the blankets even more tightly, "Why wasn't I strong enough?"

"You're stronger than you think Akemi. A lot stronger than you think."

"Then why couldn't I protect them?" She asked back.

"You did your best. You did everything that was in your power. It just couldn't be avoided. Bad things happen. They don't discriminate between those who deserve it and those who don't. They just happen. It's the unfortunate nature of the cosmos."

"If that's true then-" Akemi opened her eyes widely and quickly sat up in her bed where she came face to face with a complete stranger to her. "Who the hell are you and when did you come in here?!"

"I've been here for a while now. I just hate seeing you sad even more than Mercedes does. I like this you much better."

"You didn't answer the question!"

"No… I suppose I didn't. I'm just not used to having to explain myself since I'm famous enough where I come from. But then again, I don't exactly look the way I normally do, so I can pardon you for not realizing who I am."

Akemi eyed the stranger over, she a was a woman who didn't seem much older than she was. She had a slender figure with fair skin. But her hair was confusing. Neither Akemi nor this woman's hair seemed to know what color it was suppose to be. Somewhere between blue and purple, but clearly undecided. Especially in the dim lighting. The same was true of her eyes as well. Her hair was styled similar to Kirino's, except it was much more voluminous, and the side locks were much longer as well going down to her breasts which were only just slightly larger than Mercedes' pair. In fact now that she thought about it they were exactly the size she thought would be perfect on her best friend and hoped she'd one day grow to. But she forced her thoughts back to studying the woman before her. Particularly her face, which didn't seem to carry any emotion at all. There was no indication of any feeling in her eyes, lips, or anything in her body language. She was like a living statue. But her tone of voice was kind, friendly, and borderline playful towards the end of her last statement.

"Alright… I give up. I've never seen you before in my life. Someone as perfectly beautiful as you, I _would_ remember!"

"Well. I can explain that. I decided to take a form based on your own conception of what the epitome of beauty would be…" she said while standing up and looking in a mirror against the side wall. "And I must say… I am _not_ disappointed. I've honestly never looked this good. My compliments, you have _very_ good tastes."

"You still haven't answered my question…"

"I could be a figment of your imagination. A defense mechanism your mind conjured up because Mercedes was so good at keeping your mind off your grief that you wished for someone to come along and keep it up until she gets back," she explained while admiring herself in the mirror.

Akemi stared at her blankly.

"If that is the case. Being on a first name basis would be a little pointless since I'd just cease to exist once Mercedes returns with your doctor. The alternative theory is that because you Overclocked your body like a computer you scrambled your brain, thus leading to visual and auditory hallucinations, and thus, another explanation for my existence."

"If that's the case, you're based on my own knowledge and experience… I hope to the gods I'm not this annoying and indirect when I'm being a know-it-all," remarked Akemi.

"Some people genuinely like you when you get into that mode you know," the woman answered back.

"If they do, they don't show it…"

"Which brings us to another interesting point. If I really don't exist. Then you're just sitting here and talking to yourself."

"I don't have a problem with that." Akemi said nonchalantly with a shrug, "I like me."

"I like you too. But moving on… Oh… There are so many possible explanations for me… I didn't realize how many until I just started counting. We could be at this for a while. So I'll cut it all short and go ahead and introduce myself."

Akemi groaned in irritation and gestured for her to proceed. The woman then walked over and sat down on Akemi's bed side again and extended a hand to her. "My name is Hecate. I assume you've heard of me."

Akemi slowly took her hand and shook it with a skeptical look in her eye at the woman. "Hmm. Maybe I'll ask the doctor to give me a through brain scan. I'm pretty sure it's one of the other options. You can't possibly be the Goddes-"

"Titan! Please. I'm not a Goddess. You know this."

"Well I can't very call you 'my titan' when I pray now can I?"

"Then try calling me Hecate. Everyone else does. However few of them there are..."

"Yeah… The cult is small but- Wait. You're not the goddess so-"

"Titan…"

"Sorry… You're not the _Titan_ Hecate. You're a figment of my imagination. I'll tell the doctor I'm seeing things. He'll give me some drugs. And you'll go away. And I'll get a pretty good high out of it."

"Then why bother being polite all of a sudden?" The woman asked.

"Just incase?" Remarked Akemi with an innocent shrug of her shoulders. "But I am probably crazy, or like you said, I messed up my brain."

The woman chuckled at that. "So when you talk to me, you're praying. But when I talk to you that means you're crazy? If only you humans could have believed that when it counted. You'd have saved yourselves a lot of trouble."

"Are you saying you don't want us praying?"

"It's a little pointless. It's against the rules for us to actually interfere with your lives. You can thank the others for that. We got sick of their games."

"But isn't that what you're doing right now?" Remarked Akemi who then took a very deep breath to stop herself, "Alright. I decided to tell the doctor. Drugs. Good high. Problem solved."

Hecate bit her lower lip while looking up at the ceiling in deep thought, her lips moved as if counting off her ideas for a long moment before she finally looked back at Akemi and nodded, "You could tell your doctor. He could give you the drugs. And I might go away. Voluntarily or otherwise. But if you do tell him. The doctor would have to note your symptom. Maybe keep you for observation. At best, it means you don't get to join the battle. At worst, you might never get to pilot your Gundam ever again if you're actually brain damaged, or suffering from one of many psychological conditions..."

Akemi shifted her gaze downwards away from the woman, "I should have thought of all that…"

"Decide what's most important to you. At worst, you have a new imaginary friend that you might be able to get along with. At best, you find out once and for all that everything you put your faith into is real."

While Akemi considered her options and response there was a knock at the door.

"I'll just have a seat over there," said Hecate while standing up and going over to a chair in the back of the room, "Don't worry, no matter which explanation is true, they won't be able to see me."

A moment later Mercedes entered with a man wearing a white lab coat. Mercedes walked around the bed to Akemi's right side and took her hand in both of her's and squeezed it there while the doctor read the screen checking her vital signs.

"Everything looks fine to me here, how are you feeling miss?"

Akemi looked up at Mercedes and then over to the doctor and looked at him for a long moment with some hesitation in her eyes. The Doctor then gave her a concerned look and was about to speak when Akemi spoke first. "I'm fine. Really Doctor. I'm as fine as I can be after what's happened. But I feel fine. Physically fine I mean. I need to go out there and do my job. I can't just sit here and do nothing. So you have to let me out of here."

The Doctor looked up at Mercedes who shrugged her shoulders at him. "Very well then… I don't see any apparent reason why I can't let you go now. But I've asked Miss Verdin here to give your file to your ship's medical staff. I want you to check with them so they can clear you for duty. Understood?"

"Yes Doctor. Thank you very much."

Akemi's eyes drifted over to the far side of the room where Hecate was still seated, the two locked eyes and Hecate gave Akemi a quick nod of encouragement.


	5. Pluto - Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**  
" **The Fall of Volubilis"  
November 24th, 755 I.C.**

* * *

Kirino was shown through a number of security checkpoints in the more discreet part of the spaceport complex. She had no idea why she was being brought here, the guards were all SSA soldiers armed with rifles the organization's newest member had never seen before, it told her that they were now making everything they needed on their own instead of stealing whatever they could use for their needs.

"So where are we going Kiku?"

Kiku gestured to the next door, "Just through there and you'll see. I think you'll be very happy with it."

Kirino went up ahead and opened the door slightly with a cautious glance back at Kiku who urged her onwards with an encouraging smile. She opened the door and stepped into a much larger and open room with very little ambient lighting. So she couldn't even see the true size or shape of the room. But she did see one relatively bright patch where Apollonia stood with a group of what appeared to be technicians. All wearing SSA uniforms, but the technicians had some over sized belts with some kind of technological devices hanging at their sides she couldn't identify.

Apollonia was busy talking to a fair skinned girl who was about the same age with what Kirino decided was sky blue hair and glasses. The former Knight-Commander cautiously approached the group and cleared her throat breaking up what was probably a very in-depth and highly technical discussion based on how everyone was arguing passionately and making notes.

"Oh Kirino! Your timing is perfect, we were just exactly now ready for you and here you are!" Said Apollonia with a cheery tone that made Kirino raise a brow. She was used to Apollonia being serious and cautious with how she spoke, but this level of confidence based on what she gathered indicated that they were on a subject she was well versed in.

"Apollonia. Nice to see you again. Mind explaining why I'm here?"

"We have a present for you of course! Hit the lights!" She ordered and suddenly the room became flooded with light forcing all the Plutons and Kirino herself to shut their eyes tightly. These weren't light levels the local people were accustomed to.

When her eyes finally adjusted she looked around and realized that there were mobile suits in the room behind Apollonia and her technicians. Two she immediately recognized as the Persephone and the Hecate, but there was a third beside them that followed similar design language with a slightly different color scheme. It favored light and dark grays over black, red and gold. There were yellow parts around the chest intakes and some small bits were painted red. The Mobile Suit itself was noticeably more lithe than its counterparts, but not by much. Most of its width was in the shoulders which extended out a fair ways from the body. It also had its own distinctive V-fin on the head, but it only had two points where the others had four, and this one's was light gray instead of gold. Overall, Kirino couldn't help but favor its appearance over the other two and her eyes continued to scan it over and over without a second glance at the other two suits.

"I see your eyes were immediately drawn to it. Looks like love at first sight to me. I'm so glad! I was worried you might not like it," the redhead remarked happily.

"Is that one… For me?" Kirino asked with some hesitation.

"Yes. Why else would you be here?"

"Efren said you wouldn't be giving me a Gundam… What changed?"

"Huh? Oh. Nothing changed about that. This isn't a Gundam."

"It looks just like the Gundams though. In fact the design language is just like the Hecate over there. What makes it not a Gundam?"

"What makes a Gundam a Gundam… We've had so many arguments about that over the years. The best answer I can come up with is that a Gundam is a high performance one off experimental prototype designed as a proof of concept for our newest technologies. They always have more power than sense, and require a pilot with more… something impolite… than sense to operate."

"So what is this machine then? If not a Gundam?" Asked Kirino.

"I'm glad you asked. This is the Hades Design Bureau, or HDB, model one. Code name Project Medea. It was a prototype designed to be a mass production candidate which I had brought out of storage for you."

"Fits all the criteria of a Gundam, but isn't a Gundam. Alright. So if this didn't go into mass production… What went wrong with it?"

"What? Oh nothing. It performed exactly as intended," remarked Apollonia.

The blue haired girl then interjected herself, "It also fits the last criteria you probably overlooked with your faux humility. It's got the same problem as the Gundams. The pilot needs to have more chutzpah than brains. It killed two test pilots and then it was shut down. From what I've heard about the way you fought those Sentinels, you probably fit the description of the Medea's _ideal_ pilot."

Kirino wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, but the tone she took felt very rude to her, "It killed two pilots… That sounds to me like a pretty damn serious design flaw!" Exclaimed Kirino to Apollonia and then quickly back to the blue haired woman, "And I'm sorry miss, have you got a problem with me that I should know about?"

The young woman was about to answer when Apollonia cut her off, "This is Lana Fowler, please don't take it the wrong way. She's like this with everyone."

"Lana Fowler… You're definitely not Pluton, are you?" Asked Kirino with a calm voice.

"No I'm from Triton. Before you ask, I like it here because people are slightly less stupid. They actually aspire to intelligence. They're not there yet. But at least they're working on it."

"So what's your problem with me?" Asked Kirino.

"I don't like Terrans, and I don't like Knights. I especially don't like defectors, nine out of every ten try to sell us out. And then there's this disaster of a mobile suit you're being handed like it's nothing. A mobile suit which I've repeatedly said had no business even being built in the first place! This is just going to be one more disaster to its name! Nothing good has come from the Medea!"

Apollonia interjected before Lana's rant went any further than it already had, "That's why you're not part of my team anymore Lana. You're such a pessimist. But I trust you'll be able to handle the maintenance of this machine aboard the Acheron?"

Lana shrugged her shoulders, "Spare parts won't be a problem. The chassis is mostly compatible with the Hecate's parts. I'll probably need some armor panels and a few other things but I can requisition parts from the Myrmidon's stock for that. I'll improvise on the rest if I need to."

"Myrmidons?" Asked Kirino.

"The actual mass production suit we use, the one that doesn't kill its pilots. The Medea is a monster that will betray and murder you at the first opportunity. Trust me on that. If nothing else, Apollonia has a knack for appropriately naming things."

Kirino had her eyes on the mobile suit and nodded along with her, "You're more right than you probably realize. The irony in this is palpable," Kirino then looked over the younger woman with a critical eye, "You really have no social skills whatsoever. Do you?"

"I'm the Chief Engineer of the Acheron, and the one who'll be responsible for keeping this monstrosity functional. If you want someone who'll waste their time being nice instead of doing their jobs you are shit out of luck!"

Kirino raised an eyebrow at the girl and cracked a smile, "Are you all talk? Or are you actually any good?"

Lana folded her arms and scoffed at the woman, "Pluto is a fucking Technocracy! You only get the jobs you're suited to around here. Use a little logic instead of asking stupid questions!"

Kiku was about to step up and chew the woman out, but Kirino put a hand out to stop her, "Relax Kiku. I don't mind. It's a little refreshing not being surrounded by sycophants and back stabbers. At least she stabs you in the front. Now… Could someone tell me how exactly does the Medea kill its own pilots?"

Apollonia was about to speak when Lana quickly cut her off, "This mobile suit is too light, and has far too much engine power for its own good. Put those engines to full power and you'll experience almost instant g-loc if you're lucky. Ever heard the expression breakneck speed? This thing goes so fast your eyeballs literally drop back into your skull."

"Our new g-suits can more than make up for it Lana, you're exaggerating now," said Apollonia.

"Am I? This damn thing has enough acceleration force to flatten a man. We couldn't get the first pilot out of the seat. We buried him with it. The second pilot's eyeballs ended up as stains on the inside of his helmet visor!"

Kirino's eyes widened and she gulped nervously. "And you think I can pilot it?!"

"I can assure you," said Apollonia with a raised finger. "I put limiters in place to keep the engine output at perfectly reasonable levels. But we couldn't get anyone to test it… So the project was scrapped."

Kirino looked up at the Medea, "Yeah… I wonder why…" she mumbled to herself. "What the hell kind of engines can produce that kind of power?" She asked in a louder voice.

"An electromagnetic drive powered by a high output particle accelerator. It's extremely complicated to explain how it works, but you'll find everything you need to know in the operation manual which we will be providing to you," explained Apollonia.

"What about weapons? I assume it has weapons?"

"Yes. In the head are twin particle cannons, and stored in the hip is a beam saber. Before leaving you'll receive a variable output beam rifle, and a high energy beam cannon which are still being brought up from storage. For defense, the left and right forearms can produce an energy shield capable of blocking anything thrown at it. Well, anything that won't rip the arm clean off the suit after impact at least. Try to dodge things like that."

Kirino nodded at that last bit of advice with a bewildered expression.

"Finally, the mobile suit has a system called Variable Phase Shift Armor. I'm not at liberty to disclose how that works, but what it does is temporarily strengthen the armor at the point of a projected impact. Don't rely on it though, it can only take so much, and it only has enough power to take so many hits. Depending on the intensity of the hits… It's there to help you if you can't block or dodge something that would otherwise kill you outright."

Kirino choked on all the information she was getting, "You people have made some ungodly technological advances here. Why isn't there much evidence of it in the city? Why are the lights so dim, why aren't there computers everywhere? Why isn't there more food? More power? More water?"

Apollonia seemed lost for an answer when Lana spoke up as if stating the obvious, "Because if we made this technology widely available, what's to stop the Imperium from coming to take it from us? Punish us for not sharing it with them? You should know, you would have been the one tasked with doing it."

"I suppose that was a dumb question..." Kirino chided herself in resignation.

"I hope you understand that keeping our technology out of the Imperium's hands will be a big part of your job now. I also hope you can fully appreciate the consequences of them getting their filthy hands on any of this! The Medea has a self destruct, if you're about to be captured, _use it!_ If you think about taking it back to the Imperium, don't. I'll be the only one with the access codes to the internal systems. Any unauthorized tampering with them will trigger the self destruct. And believe me, _you do not_ want to see what happens to an unrestricted particle accelerator at sustained maximum output."

"Believe me… I'm starting to wonder if anyone at all should have this much power… But that's another debate for another time. What else do I need to know about the Medea? Specifically how to pilot it without killing myself."

"Pfft! I thought you were a pilot? Can't you figure that out on your own?"

"No I can't! I'm not familiar with the suit! So you'll have to explain it to me," said Kirino with a harsh tone.

"I would love to, really, but I'm out of hand puppets and crayons. I'm sure there's a Pluton school somewhere that can give you a remedial lecture on basic Newtonian physics."

"So… You're saying that I should just not push the engines to their maximum output?"

Lana clapped her hands and then pointed at Kirino, "Someone get that woman a gold star!"

After that Lana walked away towards the Medea and gestured for Kirino to follow her with a casual wave of her hand. Kirino looked at Apollonia who gestured for her to go along with her, albeit more politely than the former.

Kirino was then taken up one floor of the massive hangar bay to a retractable scaffold which was extended towards the Medea to allow for easy cockpit entry. Kirino found it odd at first that the cockpit entry hatch was located in the front instead of the back, but what bewildered her the most was the actual cockpit itself. There was a short walkway leading up to the seat in the center of a large sphere made of dark metallic panels. The seat itself was suspended in the center of the sphere by struts connected to the lower aft section of the spherical cockpit.

"This probably looks very alien to you, so I'll forgive your ignorance and walk you through it all," said Lana with trace amounts of condescension.

"Are you not merciful?" asked Kirino in a snarky tone.

"I can be. Go in and sit down," said Lana while pointing directly to the seat.

The first thing Kirino could not help but notice was the actual seat ergonomics. Once she sat down the seat automatically began adjusting itself to her, as if it somehow knew without any instructions what her most ideal seating position would be to operate the machine. Pedals adjusted to her height, the firmness of the seat padding, the height of the restraints. Kirino looked around herself in surprise and then sighed in relief.

"Everyone always asks about the seats first. So I'll go ahead and explain that. We found in our tests that there was a very direct correlation between seat comfort and pilot performance. We put a lot of thought into all the little things that help a pilot bond with the machine and make it their own. Next we need to make it yours."

Lana then instructed Kirino on how to activate the mobile suit's systems. Everything was very user friendly after that, the system even switched its language settings from Pluton to English for her and everything became self explanatory. Lana then told her to tap a control panel on her right hand side to bring up the cockpit configuration systems and deploy the second seat, after that Lana went inside and sat down beside Kirino.

"That's convenient. It's sort of like a motorcycle sidecar," she commented about the second seat. "Next question. How will I actually be able to see out of this thing?"

"Shut the hatch and find out…" Lana lazily replied.

Kirino pressed to control to shut the hatch. The outer armor plates locked into place followed by the entryway which folded up and became part of the sphere. Then the holographic display system activated and left Kirino speechless.

"I helped design this. Yes. It's impressive. I know."

"It's like I can reach out and touch it all…"

"Yes, like I said, it's very impressive. The next thing you need to know about what your ass is sitting on is more important. It's called a Linear Seat. The strut holding it up will significantly reduce the shock and whiplash from combat. And you'll hardly feel a thing while moving. But it can only do so much for you. If things get rough, they'll be rough. It's just that a shock that would have killed you will now probably just leave you in some discomfort."

"I see you put as much thought into pilot safety as you did to comfort."

"Yes. Final note. This mobile suit has now imprinted itself with your biometric readings. Nobody but you can ever pilot the Medea without a master reset. I'm the only one who'll be able to do that by the way. And if you're thinking of kidnapping me and taking me to the Imperium, I can also manually trigger the self destruct."

"I could just tie you up to keep you from doing that," said Kirino with an amused smirk.

"I can do it just by thinking about it. I'm a Technomage."

"A what?"

"I'll let someone else explain that to you. Like I said, I'm out of crayons and hand puppets."

* * *

Akemi was walking through the old city, the dusty streets marred by potholes created by weapons fire. Ahead of her she could see the leveled buildings caused by the crash of the Sentinel she destroyed over them. The area was mostly abandoned. Only a few people here and there sifting through the wreckage. Mostly police and military sorting through to find components of the Sentinels for study.

"Are you a masochist?" Asked Hecate.

Akemi had almost forgotten about her new companion and turned her head so she could see the woman over her shoulder walking just behind and beside her. "No. I'm not. The whole thing just doesn't seem real. I suppose I just needed to come here to convince myself that I didn't imagine the whole thing."

"And to pour salt all over your still fresh wounds? Your friend is right. You shouldn't be thinking about going into battle. You should be grieving," her voice sounded gentle and considerate, but her body language and facial expressions were completely stoic. Confusing didn't seem like a strong enough word for it. It was like her body was completely disconnected from her emotions and it bothered her a lot.

Akemi stopped and turned to fully face Hecate with her hands on her hips. "What is it with you? You say something, I can hear the emotion in your words. But you have no body language whatsoever. Your face doesn't even change, I can't even see anything in your eyes!"

Hecate for her part remained as stoic as ever, but this time her tone of voice sounded amused, "I'm taller than you…" she said while looking down into Akemi's brown eyes. "Your posture suggests you're talking me down. But you can't talk down to someone taller than you."

"Answer me! It's very disconcerting you know!"

"Simply put. Where I come from there's never any need for body language or facial expressions to convey our feelings to each other. I suppose we all just forgot how to do that somewhere along the way. But if it bothers you that much I'll try to work on it."

Akemi blinked at the woman, "Just like that? You'll try to work on it? No giving me any crap for talking to a deity that way?"

"Why would I give you 'crap' for expressing yourself to me? I'm not the Christian God. I don't throw tantrums when people aren't nice to me. I just ignore them. In this case, you expressed a frustration with me, and because I actually would like to get along with you-"

Akemi started laughing to Hecate's bewilderment, "What's so amusing?"

"He's not just the Christian god, he's also the Jewish, and Islamic god too. Shouldn't you know that Miss Trivia?"

"Does this mean you've accepted that I am who I say I am?" Asked Hecate.

Akemi took a deep breath and started laughing again.

"Could you please tell me what is so amusing?"

"Haha. Frustrating isn't it? When you have to ask the same question over and over!"

"Ahh. Touché," she stated calmly.

Akemi drew a deep breath and recomposed herself, "I'm sorry. I just had to. But anyway, it's funny because until now all our conversations have been one way. Now you're standing right in front of me and you actually accept my criticisms of you! I just don't know if I should laugh or freak out. So I'm laughing."

"Ahh. Humor as a defense mechanism. Now it makes sense," she remarked and continued to stoically stare into her brown eyes.

"Alright. Just, try to be more natural. You know? Be like everyone else. When you're happy, smile, when you're sad, frown…" explained Akemi. After a long moment of staring into the stoic bodied woman she grumbled in frustration. "Just try watching everyone around us and you'll pick up on the mannerisms."

"That's not why I'm stoically staring at you," she replied with a serious tone.

"You don't have any other kind of stare. So how am I supposed to know? It just reinforces my point! So what is it then?"

"You accept that I am who I say I am. Yet the first question you ask me is about my body language. I would have expected, and indeed I had prepared for a torrent of questions like why I've chosen to show myself to you and not someone else. Why I'm even here at all. What is it like where I come from… You're standing in front of an actual Titan, and you don't have any questions for me?"

Akemi put a finger to her chin as she contemplated what Hecate was saying, "Well… If you really want me to ask you a question… There is one thing that's been bothering me."

"What would that be?"

Akemi put her arms behind her back and leaned forward with a big smile on her face, "If you sneeze, would it be appropriate to say bless you?"

Hecate stared at her blankly for a long moment and then the corner of her mouth slowly curled upwards, it was slow, it was twitchy, but it happened. And to her great pride, Akemi noted that she had made a deity smirk. "That's better, now you're getting it!"

"I am not entirely certain yet, if you are exceptionally intelligent, or a complete imbecile. But I confess you amuse me greatly," said Hecate while putting her arms behind her back the way Akemi did as they resumed walking.

"That statement is elitist. Smart people can be imbecilic!" said Akemi pointedly. "But. The question you asked. I am actually curious. But I figured you'd tell me eventually. Honestly I'm still skeptical about all this, though I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. After everything that's happened, I suppose I need a friend more than I need a deity. So if you're just a figment of my imagination or the real deal, it doesn't make any difference."

"You've always thought of me more as a friend than as a deity. When you pray you never ask for anything unreasonable. Your requests were always humble. You love your family and asked for blessings upon them, never upon yourself. You told me of your joys and rightly never gave me credit for them. You told me of your troubles, and never blamed me for them. You even make audacious jokes with me. When we first met in the hospital, you didn't ask me why I failed to protect your family, you wondered why you weren't strong enough to do it yourself. It says a lot about who you are, and why I find you so interesting. And it drew me to you."

"My family are gone because a Terran Knight murdered them. He had the opportunity to do that because I hesitated and didn't know how to confidently handle the situation I was in. But one thing I do remember about that moment. I heard a voice beside me, warning me of something I didn't see the first time I looked. That was you wasn't it?" She asked while turning her head to Hecate with a sad and curious look on her face.

"That too could have been a manifestation of your subconscious. Auditory hallucination isn't unheard of in moments of stress. There are volumes of such cases that are well documented. You wouldn't have been the first to experience it, and you won't be the last," replied Hecate while looking straight ahead.

"Maybe. That's why I'm still skeptical. But if it was you. It narrows the field of possibilities. If it was your voice I heard, it means you aren't being caused by something I did to myself when I overclocked. But something I already had."

"If that's true, then overclocking could have exacerbated the underlying condition. Thus putting the overclocking back on the table as a possible, and indeed, more probable cause of my being here now."

Akemi looked forward again and then suddenly jerked her head back to Hecate. "Shouldn't you be, I don't know, trying to convince me once and for all that you're actually the Titan Hecate? If you are, can't you just prove it to me somehow and then we can move on from this?"

"I could. But there's really nothing I can do that could convince you. Anything I do could be explained away as being your imagination. I could of course reveal myself to more people but that would cause even more problems. But you already know that. If everyone around you were to know of my existence it would have an immeasurable impact on this world, and the consequences would be much farther reaching. History is full of such examples, it's why we mind our own business now. It always does more harm than good to add fuel to religious fires,

"But I haven't yet said anything you don't already know, or haven't already figured out by now. So what we are left with is simply faith. Either you choose to believe that I am who I say I am, or you choose not to. Either way, I'll still be here. The only thing that would change is my reason for being here."

Akemi looked straight ahead. She didn't know when or how, but she suddenly found herself walking on the main road that would lead her to the spaceport. Her desire to explore the damage to the old city was gone for now. "A few days ago…" started Akemi. She knew it got Hecate's attention because her head turned to look at her while she was speaking. "Mercedes asked me how I could be both religious and educated. It was just outside of your temple back there in the old city. I told her that, I practiced religion because I liked it. Because I like the traditions, and I like Hecate… You. I like you. I'll tell you what I really believe now. I believe that people go to temples for the same reasons they go to a nightclub, or a brothel, or whatever their vice of choice. They go to stupefy themselves. To forget their misery, to imagine themselves for a few minutes anyway, free and happy…"

Hecate held up a finger and pondered her words for a moment, "Your quote. Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. A Russian revolutionary anarchist, and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism, and one of the principal founders of the 'social anarchist' tradition. His works are liberally plagiarized in propaganda spread by the Sovereign Spheres Alliance, and helps shape their overall ideology. It also sounds very unnatural when you say it. I don't think you believe a word of it."

Akemi smiled up at Hecate, "That was impressive."

"There's a reason the word 'Trivia' is in the modern vernacular. And she's standing right beside you," she stated matter of factly.

Akemi nodded curtly to her, "Anyway. I believe what he said is true. But I don't believe that's why I'm religious. I'm religious because it's a part of who I am. I worship you because you represent the things that are important to me. Journeys, magic, obscure knowledge, friendship… and family. You remind me of what's important in my life."

Hecate looked Akemi in the eyes for a long moment and then nodded. It was a deeply unnatural sort of nod, more mechanical than human. But, it was an effort nonetheless. "You do realize that what you just described is exactly what Mikhail was talking about. You do it because it makes you happy. There's nothing else to be derived from the worship of supernatural beings."

"A deity agreeing with Bakunin?"

"Even if I disagree with how he chooses to express himself, many of his arguments are fundamentally true. Humans have persistently used gods as a justification for their actions. The gods demand it. God wills it. My god says things should be a certain way. But what he meant is that the existence of a god means that, no matter what, humans are subservient to that god.

"To quote him directly... 'For, if God is, he is necessarily the eternal, supreme, absolute master, and, if such a master exists, man is a slave; now, if he is a slave, neither justice, nor equality, nor fraternity, nor prosperity are possible for him.' What he means here is that as long as a god exists humans will always be beneath something. And that everything they have is granted to them by the grace of their god. 'Therefore, if God existed, only in one way could he serve human liberty — by ceasing to exist.' Do you understand?"

"I understand that for the first time in a long time I'm having a pretty surprisingly decent conversation with someone. So if you are a.. I'll continue to use the word deity here since you didn't seem to mind it… Then you are telling me that you and the others have chosen to stay out of human affairs because you believe that your own existence holds us back?"

"Would it really be surprising to you if that were exactly the case? Under such a system the only way for humanity to be free is to become gods yourselves. In which case, you'd be part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. Quite paradoxical. But my point is, if I even have one to make anymore, is that you need to decide for yourself what you believe in. Not just with me, but with everything around you."

"Right now. I believe we need to pick up the pace. The others are probably waiting for us in the hanger right now and I'm so not in the mood to be chewed out. But before I start running, I just want to say, I'm looking forward to more such conversations!" She said with a cheery voice and then took off running.

Hecate followed Akemi with her eyes as she ran off, "And so to am I. More than you know…"

* * *

Efren Valerio walked into the hanger in his armored g-suit. His eyes locked upon the Persephone as he strolled through the technicians working on adjustments to the Medea. With a quick glance he noted Kirino discussing something with Lana Fowler, and he heard Lana yelling back at her in frustration, gesturing wildly at the Medea. He couldn't help but smirk at how patient Kirino seemed with her.

"Efren!"

When he heard his name called he looked up at the source and saw Apollonia waving at him from the Persephone's cockpit. Enthusiastically she grabbed onto the entry cable to be lowered to the ground where he stood waiting for her with a smile.

"Anything I should know about?" He asked while gesturing to the Persephone.

"Nothing special. I was just downloading your combat data. This was the first time our baby got to use its E.W. equipment in anger so I wanted to go through the information to see how she did."

"That makes sense. I'll be sure to gather plenty of numbers for you to crunch while I'm out there," he said while wrapping his arm around her slender waist.

Apollonia responded by stepping in and wrapping her arms around him. She let her head rest against his armored chest. "Just be careful Efren. I want you back more than I want combat data."

Efren bent down his head at the neck and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "We built the Persephone together. No matter what anyone says about her, she's powerful. I'm going to prove it once and for all. By coming back to you in victory. In the name of Hades himself my love, I swear it."

"Get a room you two!" Said Akemi while walking past and gently bumping Efren in the back to nudge him and Apollonia.

Apollonia tried to pull away from Efren in embarrassment but he held onto her firmly. "Don't mind her. She's just jealous of our love."

"She's right though… We're in public…" she said shyly.

Efren sighed and slowly let her go. "If it weren't for certain mitigating circumstances like her recent loss and a war breaking out…" he muttered mostly to himself.

Apollonia looked up at Efren with a sad expression, "She's acting normal, but I'm worried about her. Should we go see if she's alright?"

"I suppose we should… I need to know I can depend on her right now. If not, she's staying here."

Meanwhile Kirino looked down as Efren and Apollonia spoke with Akemi. The emotions surged through her as she saw Akemi acting like her usual self, but there was an unmistakable look in her eyes that she wasn't sure either of them noticed. But she could see it clearly even from her elevated vantage point.

"What is it My Lady?" Asked Kiku with a touch of concern in her voice.

"You shouldn't be calling me that anymore. The moment I put on this uniform I stopped being a Knight," she said while gesticulating to herself about her SSA uniform.

Kiku leaned back against the railing and folded her arms with a scolding glare in her eyes. "If my opinion matters at all. I think your actions make you more of a Knight, not less of one. You stood up for your principles even with your back against the wall."

Kirino sighed and turned her head to look up at Kiku while leaning forward on the railing, resting on her arms. "Your opinion is the only one that matters to me. You're the only friend I've ever had. Pretty pathetic of me isn't it? That my only friend is a person who was sent to spy on me."

"I thought we established that my friendship with you was genuine even if my reason for being there was not," said Kiku in a stern tone.

"That's not what I meant..."

"I know what you meant. Kirino. But you have a tendency towards self pity and self doubt. It won't do you any good going forward. You had enough self respect to defy everything you once upheld and enough confidence to take on ten mobile suits to protect a people you barely even know just because you knew in your heart it was the right thing to do. Hold onto that confidence and self respect, and don't ever waver from it."

Kirino chuckled lightly and smiled, "Have I ever told you that you're really good at calling me out on my bullshit?"

"Once or twice. Yes," she answered with a smirk.

The two had a short chuckle before Kirino finally decided to ask about what was really on her mind, "I have a question. Lana said she could activate the self destruct on the Medea just by thinking about it. She also said she was a Technomage. It got me thinking about what you did with those Sentinels we took. What is a Technomage? And are you one?"

Kiku took a breath and held it for a long moment before slowly releasing it and nodding. She turned around and leaned over the railing beside Kirino. "Yes. I am a Technomage."

"Alright. So what is a Technomage?"

"Philosophically speaking. The easiest way to understand our existence is to begin with the assertion that all human beings are nothing more than seeds. Self contained entities which exist inside of a protective shell. They have the potential to grow, but for their own reasons choose not to. A Technomage is a seed which is not afraid to destroy itself by growing into a tree."

"That's far too deep. Could you try again?"

Kiku nodded, "Think about our relationship with technology. How much it dominates our lives. We can't exist without it anymore. This is especially true for us here on the fringe. Now imagine that you could become a part of that Technology and interact with it on a much deeper level. That is where a Technomage begins to exist," she explained and then put out her hand and allowed the implants beneath her skin to emit their green glow for Kirino to see.

"What is that light?" She asked while taking Kiku's hand for a closer look. The lines wet along the length of her bones, and even up her forearm from what she could tell. They looked just like a circuit board, with circles around the joints and lines moving in every direction from those points all around her hand.

"Cyber, bio, and nanotech implants which have been grafted onto my bones and surgically attached to my nervous system. This is what you were sent here to investigate."

"And the whole time, what I was looking for was right in front of my face. So the people on that cargo ship were Technomages as well?" She wondered aloud.

"Yes. They were on a mission to provide technical assistance to the Venusians. They're lagging far behind the rest of us in weapon and ship production."

"I see. Did this hurt to get done?" She asked while tracing over the glowing lines of her hand.

"No. It didn't just hurt. There aren't words for what it felt like. No words I could use in any language could properly convey the idea of this level of pain. And if it's alright with you, I'd rather not discuss it. No Technomage ever talks about it. Not even to each other. It's an experience we just put out of our minds, and haunts us in our dreams."

Kirino's head fell and her eyes stared into the blackness of the dimly lit floor below her. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't feel bad. The rewards of being a Technomage are equally beyond the scope of mere words to express. We don't just use a computer, we become the computer. We understand the computer. It's the same with mobile suits. We become one with the machine in a way you could never understand. That is what being a Technomage is about. Deepening the bond with the technological world in which we now live. Just as primitive Humans once had a deep connection with the natural world in which they evolved. We evolve ourselves to be a part of this new world. Through technology, taking over where nature left off in our development. Through artificial means we strive to overcome our limitations and grow beyond Humanity. Just as a seed grows into a tree. Do you see it now?"

"Are you talking about Transhumanism?"

"Yes. I am. Our implants give us power over technology, and more… much more," explained Kiku to a stunned Kirino.

"Hey Kirino! Get over here, it's all ready for you now!" Yelled Lana from inside the Medea.

"Be right there!" She yelled back and grunted ruefully. "Just when I was finally starting to have the first real conversation with you since all this spun out of control."

"We'll have time to talk later My Lady. For now, you should focus on your battle preparations."

"Stop calling me that Kiku. Just call me Kirino from now on. You're not my servant. Even back then I never thought of you as just my servant."

"I know… But old habits die hard. _Kirino_ ," said Kiku with a hint of a smile on her lips as she emphasized her name. "I'll go get a flight suit and be by your side."

"You're coming with me?"

"I'm already going to the Acheron for this mission. I may as well ride with you and help you learn about the machine if I can," said Kiku while walking away.

Kirino then turned back to the Medea and entered the cockpit again where Lana was in the passenger seat with a portable computer in her lap. "Welcome back. Just a mandatory safety briefing for you. Even with the limiters in place, and I've checked them, so I have to grudgingly say I think they'll work, you'll experience about nine g's at full acceleration. It can make a full three-sixty in just under a second so don't go trying to pull any ballet. This is nothing like a Sentinel so don't ever underestimate it or treat it like you know what to expect. This thing can still put you into instant g-loc if you give it a chance. And don't ever pilot it without one of our new armored g-suits. They have technology in them to help you cope with the strain but you still have to put in work to stay conscious, it won't do it all for you."

"I'll try to remember that…" she answered softly.

"You're nervous about this. Good. You should be. Just don't do anything stupid with it and you'll be fine," said Lana with a casual voice while she rechecked the data on her computer. "I've just finished updating the software and and made some other adjustments. Everything is good to go."

* * *

The Medea was skating across the surface of Pluto. The wings pointed out behind it with their thrusters boosting the mobile suit along with the primary engine mounted on the back between the wings. Kirino's breathing was shallow and labored as the g-forces pressed down against her entire body. The armored g-suit was the only thing keeping her alive and conscious at this point. She did not even want to look at her front display panel, she did not want to know how fast she was going anymore. The rate the rock formations were coming up and passing her by was telling her exactly how fast she was going, faster than any human being had any business traveling outside of a starship.

The speakers in her helmet began blaring with a laser lock warning, the three dimensional sound system let her hear where her enemy was without having to look back so she knew to immediately strafe to her left to escape the firing solution. The crushing g-forces threw her body into the side of her seat. She had to tighten every muscle in her body to keep the blood flowing while her armored suit applied additional pressure to her extremities to help keep her conscious.

"Move faster Kirino! Don't be afraid of it!" She heard Kiku yell from the seat beside her. "This is nothing, a regular Human can easily withstand more than this with that advanced g-suit!"

"Impossible…" she grunted through clenched teeth as her feet released the thruster pedals to slow down.

"She's going to get you if you slow down! Speed up!" Kiku yelled at her in a furious tone.

It was too late though, the laser lock warning blared and there was no hesitation from their pursuer, the Medea was rocked from the impact of weapons fire. The entire panoramic display system blacked out and displayed the dreaded "You are dead" message which terminated the combat simulation.

Kirino landed the suit somewhere in the middle of the Tombaugh Regio and took slow and deep breaths. Kiku folded her arms over her chest and stared at her with stern eyes while she caught her breath. A moment later the Gundam Hecate landed in front of the Medea and Akemi's image appeared on the spherical display in front of her Machine.

"Kirino-san? Are you alright? You don't look so good," she remarked while pulling off her helmet.

Kirino held up a hand and slowly nodded her head. "I think so. This is just… A Sentinel can't achieve anywhere near this kind of power."

Akemi shook her head, "It's not just the g-forces. It's the A.I. system that's putting a strain on your body."

"I've explained it to her Akemi. She's afraid of it. That's her problem."

"I am _not_ afraid of it!" She exclaimed defensively.

Kiku raised an eyebrow at her, "So what Lana said about the Medea killing its pilots hasn't frightened you at all? There are different kinds of fear Kirino. The machine is analyzing your thoughts. It's limiting its own power to match your state of mind."

"She's right Kirino-san. The Medea is based on the Hecate, so I know what I'm talking about here. I went through the same thing at first. The system is a little scary. You're controlling the machine. That's a fact. But there's always this feeling somewhere in your mind that if you don't stay in control that it'll start controlling you. But you have to make yourself believe that's impossible. The machine can't control you. All it can do is turn your thoughts and instincts into actions. The connection is one way. All you have to do is hold the controls and make it do what you want it to do. The computer will do the rest."

"You have to open your mind to the machine and let it get to know you. The more you do that, the better it will respond to you and the more natural it'll start to feel," added Kiku.

"I'm not a Technomage!" Yelled Kirino.

"You told her about that?" Asked Akemi with curious eyes.

Kiku shrugged, "You don't have to be. Only the Gundams are operated by Technomages, and a few other specific models. This system was designed for a normal human to operate."

Akemi sighed deeply, "Look, we're running out of time here. Let's have one more go at it. But this time Kirino-san, I want you to let go. The machine is perfectly safe now. If it wasn't they wouldn't have given it to you."

"Lana didn't seem to think so..."

Akemi leaned forward so that only her eyes were visible in the display and yelled at the top of her lungs into the microphone, "Lana needs to eat a bucket of shit! Do you really trust that bitch more than us?"

"Alright! Whatever! What's the worst that could happen? Let's go again."

Akemi sat back in her seat and nodded, "Alright. One more time then, I'll give you twenty seconds of lead time." Akemi explained and then the implants in her face started to give off their purple glow before she put her helmet back on, "Combat simulation mode engaged." She said and then ceased the transmission.

After the Medea took off Akemi took a deep breath and grunted in frustration, "I don't think she's ready for this…"

"I wouldn't judge her level of preparedness for this battle if I were you. Your own is still in question," stated Hecate who was suddenly floating above Akemi's right side dressed in an armored g-suit just like Akemi's.

She tilted her head up at Hecate and blinked at her, "You do realize there is some gravity on Pluto's surface. You shouldn't be floating like that, it's unnatural," she said and then held her hand out towards the left hand control panel to extend the passenger seat. "Have a seat if you want."

"So I defy gravity right in front of you and all you do is tell me that it's unnatural and then offer me a seat?"

"You said it yourself. Anything you do could just be part of my imagination as well."

"If I'm a figment of your imagination, why offer me a seat?" She asked while lowering herself into the passenger seat.

"Because you're messing with my feng shui by floating around the cockpit. So just sit down, shut up, strap in, and don't touch anything!"

Hecate lowered herself into the seat and buckled up the seat restraints, she then wiggled around in the seat, "Oh… This is very comfortable!"

"Isn't it? You can thank Apollonia for that. She's good with ergonomics."

"Textbook definition of an evil genius. Weapons, great big war machines, ergonomic chairs… She'd get along with Archimedes," Hecate mused.

"Archimedes… Mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Coined the phrase 'eureka' but I credit him with being Humanity's first mad scientist."

"Indeed he was. The man single handedly made the entire Roman army flee before him in pants shitting terror," said Hecate in an amused tone.

"Now that sounds more like something I would say!"

"Yes I know. If I'm your imagination then I have your sense of humor. If I'm working on my personality, then your sense of humor amuses me so I'd emulate it."

Akemi pressed her feet down on the thruster pedals and moved the controls forward to chase after the Medea. "Alright. It's time to kick Kirino's butt again."

"Go easy on her Akemi. You'd benefit more from having another competent team mate than you would from showing off your Gundam."

"I _have_ been going easy on her. I need her to be reliable to help me beat the Imperium! That means she needs to get over her fear of the machine."

"Your words say one thing, but the look in your eyes say something else entirely. She's on your side now. Don't forget that."

"I haven't. But she was a Knight. I need to see what she can do so I can prepare for the real fight."

"You're here to prepare her for a real fight. Not yourself. Don't be selfish," chided Hecate.

Akemi sighed, "You're right… That was stupid of me..." Akemi then pressed her transmit button to speak to the Medea. "Kirino-san. I'm going to try something a little different with you this time, so pay attention and do as I tell you…"

Hecate watched as Akemi explained to Kirino. While she spoke the two locked eyes and nodded to each other.

* * *

 **SSAN-SC-01  
Acheron  
Acheron Class Stealth Carrier  
Crew Compliment: **150

Each member state of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance is responsible for building the weapons and ships their combined military requires to wage war against the Earth Sphere. Pluto's contribution was six Acheron Class Stealth Carriers. Each ship is equipped with six double barreled particle beam cannon turrets and two positron cannons on its bow. Additionally they hold a compliment of four mobile suits but can service up to six if required.

The ships are also equipped with advanced stealth technologies which can render them virtually undetectable.

* * *

Kirino floated out of the Medea's cockpit in the zero-g hanger of the Acheron and quickly took off her helmet. She was sick to her stomach already from the exercises Akemi made her go through, but the zero-g environment made it all even worse.

Kiku was quickly at her side and held Kirino's helmet near her face. "Just vomit into the helmet if you need to."

"This is so embarrassing…" muttered Kirino.

"Don't worry, you're not the first this has happened to, and you won't be the last. Come on. Let's get you off the flight deck, there's gravity in the rest of the ship."

"You've been saying that a lot lately…" muttered Kirino as the pair floated towards the hangar's exit.

Akemi floated just out side her cockpit and watched Kiku and Kirino leaving the hangar bay with a grim look on her face. Hecate emerged and floated beside her to see her face. "So, do you think Kirino has what it takes?"

"As long as she doesn't forget which side she's on now…" said Akemi with a cold malice in her voice.

"Akemi… Don't let that hate fester in your heart. You have every right to be angry but hatred is the real enemy you have to fight against. You need to face your grief."

"I'll deal with my grief in my own time and in my own way-"

"Ensign Meiousei? Who're you talking to?" Asked one of the Technicians as he floated up to the Hecate's cockpit entry hatch.

"Huh? Oh, nobody. Just take care of my Gundam, alright?" She said with a bright smile.

"Yes ma'am!"

Akemi kicked off towards the bottom of the flight deck. The technician followed her with his head and shrugged it off, "Technomages… What a bunch o' weirdos," he said to himself as he set about his work.

* * *

After some time to recover from the ordeal of piloting the Medea for the first time, Kirino was shown around the ship on which she would now be serving.

The crew largely minded their own business except to salute her as she passed them by. Kiku was presently explaining Sovereign Spheres Alliance military protocols to her. Their salute was something she needed to get used to, a few times now she almost returned salutes in the Imperium Knightly fashion, but luckily she caught herself in time and raised her hand to her brow in a proper SSA hand salute instead of placing a fist over her heart.

What surprised her was that the word had gotten around, and everyone knew who she was but didn't seem to care. They treated her like she was one of them. It showed in their salutes, each was full of pride as if they wanted her to feel like she had their respect and camaraderie. If they had negative opinions of her, there wasn't a hint of it in their body language or tone of voice.

The ship itself was small, quarters were tight. Lower ranked crew members made way for the higher ranked as they passed in the halls.

Electrical systems and pipes were all outside of the bulkheads instead of tucked neatly behind removable access panels. Function over form was the design language in everything aboard this ship. The lighting was just as dim aboard the ship as it was in Hades and Kirino felt the need to ask Kiku about it.

"We've lived in darkness for centuries. We tried brighter lighting aboard our warships before but it was too uncomfortable for the crew, so we keep the lights dim," explained Kiku as they moved through the ship.

The lights were bright enough to allow for everyone to focus properly, but there were also relatively bright strips of blue LED lights on the floor and other colors around important signs to guide crew members in emergencies. Bright enough to draw the required attention, but dim enough not to burn one's eyes in the darkness.

Kiku brought Kirino down some stairs to the bottom aft section of the ship, the engineering deck. It was the spartan nature of the ship that Kirino had now fully realized. There were no conveniences. No windows, no lifts, and so far, no entertainments that she had seen. But in front of her now was the first window she had seen aboard the ship. The window didn't lead to the outside though, it showed the Acheron's massive power plant on the other side.

"Space isn't empty. There are ambient particles all over it from which we can create energy. This is what powers our ships, and our mobile suits. Particles enter the reactor where they are accelerated into the core and smashed together to release energy. Once it begins the system is entirely self sustaining, requiring energy only to begin functioning. After that it generates more power than it needs to operate itself. They're limited only by their size. Larger reactors like this one can accelerate many more particles than the ones in our mobile suits can."

Kirino's eyes widened as she began to grasp the concept of the power generation system being employed by the Plutons, "A perpetual motion machine… That shouldn't be possible. The laws of physics prohibit the very concept of it, so how?"

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to-"

"I'll tell you! It doesn't break the laws of physics at all. It just bends them a little, I can't explain how or why, not without crayons and hand puppets, as well as at least a semester's worth of lectures on particle physics... But I can tell you how we figured this stuff out!" Said Lana Fowler as she came down the steps behind them.

Kirino turned to the young blue haired bespectacled woman and greeted her politely while she walked up to the window and started gesticulating with her hands. "Aliens," she stated with all seriousness and a gleam in her eyes that caused Kirino to raise a skeptical eyebrow.

"Aliens?"

"Yes. Aliens!"

"Lana this is classified information…" said Kiku with a frustrated grunt.

"This ship is classified information, but she's standing in it. So yeah… Aliens."

Kirino kept the skeptical look on her face as she responded, "We've known there's life on other worlds besides Earth ever since we discovered fish on Europa and Enceladus. But now you're talking about intelligent life beyond our solar system?"

Lana cracked a smile and started cackling at Kirino's statement. "Oh please. What we found is actually the first evidence of intelligent life _**period.**_ Even if it originated outside of our solar system. We're still looking for evidence of intelligent life in-"

"Lana! If you're going to divulge our biggest secret, just get to the point," chided Kiku.

"Pfft. Fine. Whatever. Around fifty years ago the Plutons discovered a derelict alien warship drifting in the Kuiper belt. Since then we've scienced the shit out of it and reverse engineered everything. Technomages, weapons systems, and the particle accelerator powering this ship."

"You actually figured out everything about an Alien warship?" Asked Kirino incredulously.

"Yes. Everything. Literally everything. It has no secrets from us now. The only thing holding us back are the engineering problems. Just because we know how their stuff works doesn't mean we have the technology to reproduce it all. But that's a problem we'll overcome in time. It's just a matter of building the tools we need to build the things we want. But from it, we developed our energy weapons, power generators, and the Technomages."

"Kiku tried to explain that to me. So your implants are reverse engineered alien technology?"

"Yes and no. It's our best attempt to reproduce their implant technology. There were detailed specifications in their medical data base. But we didn't have any living or dead examples of the technology to study, and their stuff wasn't designed for the Human body. So we had to take what they knew and make it work for us," explained Lana.

"That's… Incredible. Assuming you're not pulling my leg here," she asked while looking at Kiku for the confirmation.

"It's all true," said Kiku with a serious tone.

"Incredible. So what are they like? Or what were they like?" Wondered Kirino.

"They weren't so different from us," started Kiku. "Video logs made by the crew tell us how alike we are. They had families, friends, disagreements with each other. Culturally they were almost exactly like us. Physiologically, they were very… Alien to us. The ship we found was over a hundred thousand years old. We don't know if they're still out there or not."

Lana then took over where Kiku left off, "The crew abandoned the ship for some reason. No log entries explained why. The ship wasn't irreparable though. We managed to fix it. Their technology wasn't totally incompatible with our own, just much more advanced. If you go through one of their tool boxes you'd see they had the same sorts of tools we did. Hammers, screw drivers… Heh, even a super advanced Alien race still needed to do percussive maintenance with a sledge hammer from time to time. I'm a big fan of their chief engineer, he put in _work_ and got things _done_!"

"You mentioned it was a warship. Do you know why it was here in the first place?"

Kiku nodded, "Yes. They fought a battle here. Their enemies escaped and they were recalled to their homeworld. But they abandoned ship before exiting the solar system. As stated, the reason they abandoned ship is unknown."

"Who were they fighting and why?" Wondered Kirino.

Kiku opened her mouth to answer but the ship's intercom system interrupted her with a message in Pluton. Kiku then gestured towards the stairs, "They want you in the briefing room. I'll show you the way. We can talk more about this later."

Kirino nodded, "No problem. I only just learned about the greatest discovery in the history of the Human race but it can wait. This way my curiosity will kill me before the Imperium can..." to which Kiku smacked Kirino across the back of her head

"Hey! Striking a superior officer!"

"...Is not against our rules. And don't talk like that it's bad luck!" She chastised the former Knight-Commander.

"Not against the rules? It damn well should be!" she protested while following Kiku.

" _Assaulting_ a superior officer is. But I can do 'percussive maintenance' on your head when you need it because sometimes, you really do."

"Can't argue with that…"

* * *

 **Somewhere between Pluto and Charon**

Mercedes Verdin yawned loudly while stretching out in her cockpit. The autopilot was engaged and taking her mobile suit towards the Acheron so there was nothing for her to do but wait. The moment she finally made herself comfortable for the hour long flight a text message appeared on her forward instrument panel. With a grunt she sat up straight and tapped the message to read its contents. Next she pressed the transmit button on her right hand control to speak to her wingman.

"Riley. Did you get the message?"

A moment later his image appeared on her holographic display system, "Yeah I got it. Four Imperium Sentinels headed for Hades. Low altitude. Probably looking to find out what happened to the attack group they sent out. I'm gonna dive low and hit the dirt. Follow me and let's try to split them up before we engage."

"Understood. You take the low road, and I'll take the high."

Mercedes disengaged the autopilot and steered her Gundam towards the area indicated in the message. Both her machine and Dennis Riley's were cloaked so there was no chance of them being detected first.

"I'm at the target coordinates. I got nothing on my sensors. How about you Riley?"

Dennis scanned the area, "I got nothing, but I can feel them out there. It's giving me a hard-on."

"You're wearing an armored flight suit, isn't that painful?" She wondered in a mocking tone while keeping her eyes glued to her sensor data.

"It is certainly uncomfortable…" he stated while his eyes darted about his surroundings. "I got them. Four heat signatures at my three o'clock. Checking thermal patterns… Four Imperium Sentinels confirmed. Three assault geared, and one recon type."

"Targets confirmed. I'm closer so I'll go first and break them up."

"Pop the recon type first. He might be able to cut through our jamming and report back to Volubilis. We don't want to risk that."

"Agreed," she said to him as she pushed the thruster pedals to full power. "Mercedes Verdin, Gundam Erinyes, decloaking, assault mode active, committing!"

The Erinyes appeared as if it were flying into existence while its cloak disengaged. The assault mode deployed its wings out to the sides and split them up into different sections, like a fan of swords emerging from a solid core. From the top most bladed wings emerged the twin Arbalest linear particle beam cannons which tracked and fired on the recon type Sentinel, piercing it through its reactor core and sending it crashing into the rocky surface of Pluto where it rolled and tore apart.

The remaining three Sentinels split up in all directions with one skating across the surface looking for a firing solution to the nimble Erinyes. The others breaking off high to encircle and trap the strange mobile suit.

As with the Erinyes, the second Gundam seemed to run into existence and leapt towards the skating Sentinel. Only by the skin of his teeth did the pilot evade the fatal blow which would have been dealt to it by the Gundam Cerberus piloted by Dennis Riley. After missing his first strike, Dennis ran his suit around and began charging towards the enemy Sentinel while firing his twin 150mm Ballista particle beam cannons which had the Sentinel strafing for his life.

The Cerberus was unlike anything the young Knight piloting the Sentinel had ever seen before. It was a quadrupedal mobile suit with long wings protruding from its sides, each wing had a beam of energy emanating from the fronts which the charging Cerberus was looking to hit the Sentinel with. On its front legs were three bladed claws glowing with intense heat. It was a mechanical monster with three heads, each with a pair of glowing red eyes, that seemed to jump out of hell itself to take him back with it.

Mercedes meanwhile observed the fight on the ground and heaved a heavy sigh, "Riley… I'm dodging two Sentinels here while you're playing with one. Hurry up and finish him off!"

But there was no answer from him. Mercedes closed her eyes and squeezed the controls tighter. Her implants began to glow a brighter red as she preemptively maneuvered the Erinyes out of the Sentinel's firing solutions.

"Drone control unit activated. Deploying Furies!"

The Gundam's oversized shoulders opened at the sides and launched six small drone units at high speed which moved to encircle the Sentinel attacking from behind her. Mercedes opened her eyes and with a wave of her hand commanded the drones to engage the Sentinel behind her while the Erinyes dove down to pursue the other Sentinel which started firing at her with its rail gun and twin back mounted artillery cannons. The Erinyes brought its left arm up and held it infront of it, a golden emitter in the forearm panel lifted out and activated an energy shield which blocked all the incoming shots while she returned fire with her beam rifle. The Sentinel dodged the lethal shots but one of its back mounted cannons was blown off. It brought its left arm up with the physical shield mounted to try to protect itself from the beam fire but the next shot went through the shield and cockpit nullifying the mobile suit.

Meanwhile the other Sentinel's pilot panicked as the swarm of drones encircled and fired upon him, shredding the armor off his mobile suit and destroying all the weapons before retreating back to the Erinyes for recharge. The beam cannons they mounted weren't powerful enough to destroy the Sentinel outright, but they had done significant damage.

After dispatching the Sentinel in front of her she turned around and aimed her wing mounted Arbalest Linear cannons at the disabled Sentinel and fired the beams straight through its reactor and cockpit to finish it off leaving nothing but a metal husk drifting down to the surface of Pluto.

All the while the Cerberus was still busy toying with its prey. Dennis charged the Sentinel again and leapt up into the air, he closed his eyes while his implants glew a brighter blue and the Cerberus responded to his thoughts by transforming into it's bipedal humanoid mobile suit form. It drew two beam sabers from its hips and ignited them while charging the Sentinel, every time the young Knight tried to fire at his enemy it was as if he knew the trajectory of the slug and was somewhere else the instant he pulled the trigger to evade the shot. The Cerberus was now too close for the rail gun so the Knight discarded it and drew a massive sword from the left shoulder of his mobile suit and charged back at the Cerberus. The Cerberus didn't seem to care that it was about to be hit and kept coming with the beam sabers held out to its side.

When he was in range, the Knight swung the sword and hit the Cerberus in the torso. Sparks flew, but to his horror there was no penetration of the armor.

Dennis started laughing maniacally. He could feel the fear of the enemy pilot in his mind as he swung the beam sabers through the Sentinel, melting through its e-carbon chassis with ease and vaporizing the pilot along with the entire cockpit.

"That was for Akemi," he said to himself with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Damn it Riley! You just let me do all the work while you screwed around with that one? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Asked Mercedes over the radio.

"Your Gundam is designed to fight multiple enemies. Quit bitching and let's get to the ship."

* * *

Kirino watched Dennis and Mercedes enter the briefing room in their regular uniforms, she was surprised to see that they each had different color detailing on their uniforms from the rest of the crew and inquired about the significance of that to Efren who in turn explained that they wore uniforms with red and blue detailing respectively because they weren't Pluton citizens yet, and couldn't wear the same purple detailing the rest of them did.

"So why does my uniform have the purple? I can't even speak Pluton," she asked in response.

"Because your an exception. You defected and you're not from an SSA member nation. Mercedes is from Mars, and Riley is from the Earth's L3 colony cluster. Though they have applied to become Pluton citizens."

"Lagrange three are members of the SSA? That's not surprising… Who else are members?"

"We can discuss that later for now let's-"

"Venus, Mars, Pluto, Earth L3, and Vesta are active members. Ceres used to be but the Imperium shut them down hard. Jupiter's six and eight as well as Venus L2 are passive members," explained Dennis.

"Active? Passive? What does that mean exactly?" asked Kirino.

"Active member states contribute soldiers and actually build the things we need to fight. Passive members are scabs that just provide moral support and occasionally money, but don't actually risk anything by participating."

Efren gestured to Dennis, "Thank you for that Riley. Can we get to work now?"

"Yes sir!"

Efren gestured for Kirino to take a seat. "Pardon me, I'll conduct this briefing in Pluton but I doubt you'll miss much since this was your plan."

"No problem Commander," answered Kirino as she seated herself beside Dennis.

Efren cleared his throat and began, "Very well. First item. Kirino has now been commissioned as a Lieutenant in our armed forces. This will effectively make her my second in command so I expect all of you to show her the proper respect. Riley and Mercedes have already expressed to me that they have no problem with this. What about you Akemi? You've flown with her recently. What's your opinion?"

Akemi shrugged her shoulders, "I like her. I'm happy that she's on our side now."

"I'm glad to hear that. You've gotten her up to speed on our mobile suits so I want you to pair up with her for this battle,"

"Are you sure about that? Who'll be your cover while you're doing your thing?"

"Nobody. With the whole fleet participating I don't need to focus on EW, so I'll just be kicking ass and taking names," he said to which the four young pilots laughed.

"As long as you're sure Efren. I mean… Hecate and Persephone are a double act, and we've gotten pretty good at our moves."

"It's fine Akemi. We'll have plenty of chances to show off our stuff. This is only the beginning. Now I'll outline the plan, you'll find detailed information in the data packets on your terminals so I suggest you study them."

Efren activated his implants and gestured as if he was throwing something at the screen behind him. The large wall display then showed detailed schematics of Volubilis station.

Kirino raised her hand slightly, "Sorry. I have a dumb question to ask…"

Efren looked over at Kirino and gestured for her to speak up.

"Why do your implants glow yellow? Kiku and Lana's glow green, and Akemi's are purple from what I saw," she asked and quieted her voice when she saw Efren's face.

"Seriously? Can't this wait?" asked Efren.

Dennis cleared his throat and began quickly addressing her question, "Our implants glow whatever color we want. Mine are blue." Dennis gestured to Mercedes, "Her's are red. And no, the fact that our uniforms are that color is purely coincidental. Blue just happens to be my favorite color. For Mercedes, well, it's a Martian pride thing for her… With Akemi it just matches her hair."

"Thank you again Riley… May I continue with things that actually matter now?"

"Yes… I'm sorry it was just, burning," said Kirino.

"I realize we haven't had a lot of time to really get you acquainted with things. You're going to see a lot of strange things in the coming days and weeks so I'll just ask you to stay focused on the mission at hand so we can ensure those coming days and weeks will actually come for us."

"Yes Commander."

"And call me Efren. As long as the chain of command is followed we're pretty loose with formality amongst ourselves. We're a team, first and foremost."

"Very well, Efren."

"As I was saying now…" he said and then switched back to Pluton. "This is Volubilis station. It's the largest of the Imperium's military stations, but not exactly the most well armed. That's because it wasn't designed to be a military space station. It was designed to be a central hub for Kuiper belt exploration and eventually a launch point for interstellar missions. But those plans were scrubbed because of the last war and interest was lost in actually funding such missions,

"So as a result, Volubilis is now only manned by a skeleton crew. Fifty Knights make up the mobile suit battalion, and a few hundred regular navy keep the station running, there are also a hundred marines aboard for security. Nothing we can't overcome. The real trick is getting past the defenses."

Mercedes held up her hand and Efren gestured for her to speak up, "According to this information you gave us, Volubilis has a lightwave barrier system. We'll be pretty monumentally screwed if it comes on and cuts us off from the fleet."

Efren shook his head, "That's been taken care of. As you all know, Kiku wasn't our only agent aboard Volubilis. Only our least reliable," he explained which drew an irate glare from Akemi, "Don't look at me like that, you know it's true and it's one of the things we can debate later. Moving on. We have others aboard the station among their civilian staff including one Technomage who's already sabotaged their lightwave barrier system. They won't be able to activate it. The only things we'll have to contend with is the thirty five mobile suits they have left and the CIWS systems which can be manually operated by the crew,

"That's where the Hecate and the Medea come in. We want you two to draw fire while Mercedes and I take them out with our assault weapons. After that we break off and join the fray against the Sentinels while our marines board and secure the station."

Akemi held up her hand next, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Kirino's a good pilot, but I don't think she's ready to take the Medea to the limit yet. She's afraid of it."

"This was her plan Akemi, and I think it's a good one. So let's trust her. But I'll keep your concerns in mind."

Dennis coughed, "Where do you want me? I noticed I'm conspicuously absent from this plan."

"Riley… If you look at your terminal you'll notice I've loaned you out to the Kazuki team who are leading the battle against the Sentinels."

Dennis groaned loudly and rubbed his head in frustration, "You're doing this to punish me for something, I know it. You know I hate that son of a bitch!"

Kirino looked at Dennis curiously and he turned to her and explained, "Kazuki is the pilot of the Achilles. His machine was the basis for the mass production models and now he thinks he's the shit. His arrogance is annoying."

Kirino raised her eyebrow at the bald boy, "And your arrogance is…?"

"My arrogance is earned!"

"Riley! Eyes front!" demanded Efren. Once he had the young man's attention he held up his right hand towards Dennis and projected an incredibly realistic holographic image of a box in front of his face. "This is the box in which I keep all of the fucks I give. You'll notice it's empty. So shut up and do your job."

Kirino reached out and poked the box before Efren made it disappear. "That was amazing… It looked and felt so real!"

"That's nothing. Mercedes lost her virginity to a holographic dildo."

Mercedes instantly smacked him on the top of his head. "I understood that you stupid shit!"

"Alright everyone. Let's knock it off. This isn't a wargame. This is the real deal so let's start acting like it. Does everyone understand the plan now?"

The three young pilots all acknowledged their understanding.

"Alright then. Let's all gather around," he said while holding out his hands at his sides.

Akemi took a deep breath before standing up and joining Efren where she took a hold of his hand. Mercedes came in beside Akemi and took her hand followed by Dennis who pulled Kirino behind him and the five of them formed a circle with their hands all linked together.

"What are we doing?" asked the ever curious Kirino.

Efren looked at Kirino, "A prayer… Akemi, I know you haven't earned your Chaplaincy yet, but will you do the honors if you're feeling up to it?"

Akemi nodded and bowed her head, the rest followed suit except for Kirino who looked around and briefly debated with herself if she should even be participating in this but then lowered her head out of respect.

"Hades, lord and master of the underworld, great king of the gods, we thank you for your gift of shelter from the cold depths of the void. Only to you may we turn in desperate times. As your soldiers we ask for the strength with which to defeat our enemies. We pray to you, grant us the courage to face what must be faced, grant us the resolve to do what must be done. And should we lose our lives this day, we hope you will find us worthy to enter your domain."

Efren looked up and nodded, "Well said. Let's get ready. We have three hours to mission time. Everyone except for Akemi, you're dismissed."

Once the room was cleared Efren leaned back against the wall and looked down at Akemi, "How are you?"

Akemi closed her eyes and turned her head away from Efren, she balled up her fists and trembled at the shoulders, "I was wondering how long it would be before you brought it up…" she said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry for your loss. But you saw the mission plan. I need to know that I can count on you to be clear headed. There's too much at stake right now to take chances. If you tell me you can do your job, I'll believe you. But if you think there's even a chance that you might let your anger cloud your judgement out there, I need to know, and you need to tell me."

"Of course there's that chance! But I need to do this. I need to participate in this, and I need to do it right. The best revenge would be to win this battle! I'm not going to go crazy and start chasing Sentinels and leave my team mates to fend for themselves. Believe me Efren! Believe in me!"

Efren lowered his head and took a moment to consider her words, the desperation and resolve in her tone and then nodded. "I can't see any other way to do this other than Kirino's plan. That plan requires you to do a job that nobody but you could pull off. So alright, you're cleared to fly. Next question. Between us, can Kirino pull it off? Can she pilot the Medea as well as you can pilot the Hecate?"

Akemi breathed a sigh of relief and then took a moment to consider her response before she spoke again, "She can pilot a mobile suit, there's no doubt about that. But the Medea is an untamed monster, and she recognizes that. Can she pilot it? Yes. Can she pilot it as well as I pilot the Hecate? Not a chance."

"Do you think she can do the job?" he asked plainly.

Akemi sighed, "I don't know. But after the way things escalated. We don't really have much of a choice. The plan requires two high speed suits to split the defensive fire, the Hecate and the Medea are very fast. There's no other way I can see to go about it. Either she does it, or she doesn't. That's all there is to it."

"Am I making a mistake trusting her?"

Akemi shook her head, "No. Deep down she knows she's doing the right thing by joining us."

"Mercedes said you're a good judge of character. My experience with you tells me she's right. I want to trust her. But there's this little voice inside me that tells me she's only thinking the way she is now because of recent experience. Down the line I don't know if I can still trust her to fight the Imperium because those won't be the same Knights who betrayed her."

"If you don't give her a chance, you'll never find out," she answered.

"You're right. Whatever happens I just want you to know you're never alone. We're all here for you. If you ever need anything, you just tell me. Alright?"

"Thank you Efren," she said with a nod.

* * *

Kirino held on to a railing across from the Medea, her eyes locked in on the Sovereign Spheres Alliance emblems being stuck onto the shoulder panels by a technician. Her eyes drifted around and she looked at the four other mobile suits, the Gundams lined up neatly along the walls.

It was the Cerberus which really caught her eye at the moment. It was mostly completely black except for red detailings and gold around the chest intakes. The most unique looking of the four Gundams, as if it had an entirely separate design lineage. From the technical details she was given to plan with she understood the Cerberus could transform into a quadrupedal form but she didn't understand by looking at it in its humanoid form how exactly that was achieved.

The Persephone also had its unique attributes but it still had the same design language as the Medea and the Hecate. Then there was the Erinyes with its distinctive wings. Like a fan of swords. And finally the Hecate, the first Gundam she'd ever seen.

"Beautiful aren't they?" asked Kiku as she floated up and caught the railing to steady herself beside Kirino.

"They really are. But they're also frightening. Efren let me look at some to the specs while we were planning the mission..."

"I don't envy those kids. Gundams are dangerous. As much to their pilots as they are to their enemies. They demand respect," said Kiku in a serious tone of voice.

Kirino looked around at the collection of Gundams once more and couldn't help but agree. "I wonder how many times throughout history did people stop and ask themselves if they were building something too powerful?"

"I'm sure there were those people. But humanity has never restrained itself when it comes to war. In the last war we were at the disadvantage because we didn't have proper weapons, ships, or soldiers. Now we do."

"You know what I'm most afraid of? If the rest of the SSA has this kind of power, what's to stop them from using them as indiscriminately as they do bombs or guns?"

"Absolutely nothing. Which is why we don't share weapons technology. We have a very small military. Ten ships, six of them carriers like this one with a total of twenty four, no, twenty five mobile suits now," she said while gesticulating at the Medea, "And that's all. We need this power to be on equal footing with our enemies, and our allies."

"That's all? You're going up against the Imperium with just that?" asked Kirino incredulously.

"That wasn't the plan. Building all of this in secret is difficult enough. We're a small population out at the end of the solar system. If it weren't for this attack we'd go on building more until we were ready. But as things stand now, we're making it up as we go along. I have no idea what will happen after this mission."

"I know exactly what will happen after this mission," said Kirino.

"Oh? Do you know something I don't?" asked Kiku with a raised brow at Kirino.

"Yes. You're going to teach me to speak Pluton. You're going to explain everything to me about everything. You're going to help me fit in. You got me into this mess, so you're going to take responsibility for me now."

"Ha! You do realize I've been doing that since the day we first met right?"

"Difference is I don't need you to do my laundry now," she said with a smirk.

"Oh? Did you suddenly learn how to do it yourself when I wasn't looking?"

"I just can't win with you can I?"

Kiku habitually ran her hand through her pink hair to try and push it back down when she realized the futility of it given the zero-g environment of the hangar deck. "I know you too well."

"I thought I knew you too. But it turns out I didn't know anything at all. Did I?" said Kirino with a sad voice.

"That's not true. The only things you didn't know about me was that I was a spy, an SSA Commando, and a Technomage. I never once actually lied to you. I omitted certain things for the sake of my mission. But the important things. Like the way I feel about you, the kindness I've shown you, the friendship I've given you, all those long hours listening to your worries. That was all real. And if you'll let me, I'll keep taking care of you. Because I do love you. Very much," said Kiku while drifting closer to Kirino.

Kirino cracked a smile and pulled Kiku into a tight embrace. "I love you too."

* * *

Dennis stood with his back to the bulkhead as he waited for Mercedes to emerge from her quarters. When she eventually did he walked in stride with her. "We need to talk."

"I really have nothing to say to you Riley. Years now we've trained together for this and when the moment came I really thought I could count on you to have my back. But instead of supporting me you wasted time sadistically playing around with one enemy unit while I fought two on my own. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my real friend who needs me," she said while quickening her pace.

Dennis however wasn't done yet and hastened to keep up with her. "Damn it woman! It was nothing you couldn't handle so why are you PMSing on me now?! I've seen you take on five at once and come out unscathed!"

She stopped in her tracks and shoved him into the steel bulkhead. "Fuck you Riley! That wasn't a simulated wargame against our own people! That was the real thing! They were shooting live ammo at me! They were trying to _kill_ me while you were playing with your dick!"

"So what do you want me to say?" he asked while shrugging his shoulders. "I'm sorry?"

"No. I want you to go fuck yourself!" she yelled while shoving him back into the bulkhead.

"Alright. Whatever you want," he said while holding up his hands in surrender. "I'll leave you alone."

Mercedes then walked away from him leaving him to grunt in frustration and then walk the other way.

When she eventually reached Akemi's quarters she knocked on the door but there was no answer. She tried to turn the hand wheel it but it was locked. So she held her hand over the security panel and closed her eyes while she felt her way through the system to disable it and open the door. Inside she found Akemi laying in her bed with her palto clutched tightly in her arms. Akemi didn't move or acknowledge her so she closed the door behind her and checked her wristwatch. There was just under two hours to mission time so she decided to spend it with her friend.

Mercedes lay down beside Akemi and draped an arm around her. Akemi finally responded to her by turning over and cuddling up against her where she started sobbing again.

"I still don't think you should be on this mission Akemi. But I've got your back. Always." She then heard Akemi mutter a quiet thank you before she seemed to fall asleep.

* * *

 **Volubilis Station**

Efren pressed down on his transmit button, " **It's showtime everyone! Commander Efren Valerio, of the Valerio team, Gundam Persephone,** _ **launching!**_ " he yelled enthusiastically and then stomped down on the thruster pedals to launch up from the open doors above him.

" **Ensign Denis Riley, Gundam Cerberus, taking off!"** he said with a sadistic growl in his voice.

Kirino grasped her controls tightly and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves while she watched the launch queue and waited for her turn to take off.

" **Ensign Mercedes Verdin, Gundam Erinyes launching!"** she said calmly but loudly.

" **Ensign Akemi Meiousei, Gundam Hecate, launching!"** she said with a furious undertone.

Finally it was her turn, she looked up at the exit hatch opening above her head and then a green light flashed in front of her. "Dame Ki..-" she started and then quickly cut herself off, " _ **Lieutenant**_ **Kirino Akiyama, Medea launching!"** she yelled and then slowly pressed down the pedals to launch the mobile suit up and out of the ship to join up with the rest of her team in formation.

"You should all either stop saying Gundam when you announce your take offs, or make Kirino's machine a Gundam too. It really breaks the flow of things, don't you think?" asked Hecate who suddenly appeared in the passenger seat beside Akemi.

Akemi held up a finger and waved it back and forth while nodding her head before pressing down on the transmit button, "I have a proposal for everyone," she said into the radio. "If Kirino does well and really shows what the Medea can do, why don't we make it an honorary Gundam? It meets all the criteria anyway."

Mercedes shrugged her shoulders, "I'll second the motion if she also proves herself capable of keeping up with us."

"You have my vote," said Dennis.

"I have no objections but first thing's first. We need to win," said Efren while leading them into formation with the other six mobile suit teams.

Kirino looked around at the gathered production models and the other Gundams as well. The mass production models were called Myrmidons and featured identical wing structures which separated them from the Gundams which each had unique systems on their backpacks. They had single silver v-fins on their heads instead of the gold ones on the Gundams, of which there were five different models in the formation. Their IFF's displayed them all in team leader positions. Valerio team seemed to be the only all Gundam team. Or they were until Kirino joined them.

"Is that the Terran traitor in the Medea?" came a new voice over the radio which made Kirino cringe at the venom with which the words were spoken.

The three dimensional sound system made it seem as if it was coming from one of the nearby mobile suits which was quickly highlighted by the Medea's cockpit system with all of its IFF data displayed beside the suit. HDB-X-02 Achilles, the successor model to the Medea. The one Dennis mentioned he didn't care for. Now Kirino felt like she understood why he hated the man.

"Commander Kazuki, if you have a problem with a member of my team feel free to take it up with me after the mission is completed. Until then I'd request you keep your comments to yourself," she heard Efren say in her defense with an authoritative tone.

"I'm not going into battle with a Terran, and certainly not someone who's already once a traitor!"

Kirino was about to hit her transmit button when Efren spoke up again.

"I told you to shut the fuck up Kazuki. I have operational command here and I've already assigned Ensign Riley and the Cerberus to your team for support. He's also Terran. Or do you have a problem with him too?"

"I do. So why don't you keep him?"

Efren's face appeared on everyone's displays as his mobile suit swung out in front. Kirino looked over at Volubilis station which was launching its Sentinels as they spoke. Behind her were the six carriers which were holding position along with the mobile suits well outside of the station's effective weapons range.

Kirino was wondering if they really had time for this but she knew part of the plan was to draw out the Sentinels, so giving them time to launch and look at their enemies wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Her thoughts were interrupted by Efren who began to address the mobile suit pilots.

"Does anyone else agree with Kazuki's opinion? Because if you do I strongly advise you to clean the shit out of your ears and listen to me. The last time I checked the emblem on your armbands stood for something. Values and ideals which we are willing to risk our lives for. Everything we've trained and prepared for is about to start with this strike,"

The SSA was founded to stand against the injustice of the Imperium, it certainly was not created to allow your blatant prejudice against Terrans to fester. We cannot win this war without the aid of all those who have been disenfranchised by the rule of the Imperium. Be they Terran, Martian Pluton, or whomever else we can get. If a Terran wishes to don our emblem, stand up against tyranny and break the chains of Earth's Imperialism. You can bet your ass I'm going to take her. So the question I put to you now is this, why won't you?"

"Because she hasn't proven herself to me. Anyone capable of betrayal once, is capable of doing it again. She isn't one of us," came his response.

Kirino stepped down on the primary thruster pedal to move beside Efren. Vexed by Kazuki's words she thumbed her transmit button. "Commander. Thank you for supporting me but I don't need his respect. The only thing I need is my self-respect. He calls me a traitor but I haven't betrayed anything. All I've changed is my uniform. My principals. The values and ideas I fight to uphold, those haven't changed. To be valorous and virtuous, to protect the weak and the helpless, to speak only truth, and to oppose tyranny. If the Imperium have become the very things I've sworn to oppose, then my duty is clear!"

Kirino turned the Medea towards Volubilis station where she drew out and ignited its beam saber. **"I must turn my wrath upon** _ **them**_ **!** If you feel the same then follow me! If not, stay the hell out of my way!" she yelled before pressing down the pedals and accelerating towards the station at full speed.

"Kirino! Gods damn it! We haven't received our attack orders yet!" yelled Efren who then started after the Medea without a hope of keeping up with it's vastly superior engine performance.

Akemi didn't wait for orders, she just pressed down on her pedals and followed Kirino with a grin on her face. "I think she stopped being afraid of it now. Let's kick ass!"

Hecate rolled her eyes at the scene she's witnessed, "There is a microscopically thin line between being inspiringly gallant and astonishingly foolish. But you only live once as they say, so pick one and go for it."

Akemi couldn't contain the chuckle. "But the dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them."

The Persephone accelerated to catch up while the Erinyes and Cerberus followed close behind. "Alright… Since we're not in the mood to stick to the plan I'm going to revise this as we go along…" said Efren while switching his panoramic display to a tactical one. None of the other pilots seemed to want to be left behind and were scrambling to catch up. "Get into defensive formation and we'll take the Sentinels head on. Once the battle is going Valerio team will disengage and attack the station as planned. Understood?"

The three youngest pilots all acknowledged but Kirino didn't respond. Efren held his hand over his command console and hacked his way into the Medea's comm system. He heard the sound of her heavy breathing and words being muttered between her breaths which he couldn't make out.

Akemi shook her head and pulled the buttons on the front of her hand controls to deploy the Hecate's wings. Then she pressed the transmit button and signaled to Efren, "I'll take care of Kirino, the rest of you focus on the Sentinels!" having said that she activated the booster engines in her wings which ignited in a stream of white and purple lights which trailed her suit as it accelerated ahead of the rest of the team to catch up to the Medea. Akemi then pressed the finger buttons in another sequence and the Gundam drew its twin Flash-Edge beam sabers from the shoulders and ignited them in an unstable beam of purple energy which trailed behind her.

"Kirino! Ease off and get ready they're coming!" she yelled into her radio.

"If you're afraid of something… Face it…" she heard Kirino mutter between her deep heavy breaths.

Akemi looked over at Hecate who gave her a shrug and then she looked out towards the Medea again. "Kirino… The machine is reading your thoughts. It's turning your instincts into actions. Remember when I said the connection was one way? That's not entirely true! The machine can give you feedback. That's what's happening to you. It's turning your aggressive instincts into actions. It's taking your desires and amplifying them. You have to stay in control! You have to think rationally! The machine doesn't have a will of its own. Instead it takes on your will. So you have to stay in control of yourself! You can't give into those kinds of desires! Kirino! Listen to me please! Fuck Kazuki! He doesn't matter! What would Kiku think of you right now?! She's counting on you right now! So pull yourself together!"

Kirino's eyes widened and scanned across the area ahead of her highlighting the battalion of enemy Sentinels coming towards her, warnings blared that she was now in weapons range and was being targeted. Her first instinct was to protect herself as the rail guns fired. In turn the Medea crossed its arms over its chest and from the armor section on the top of its hands projected an energy shield which deflected all the rail gun shots.

" **KIRINO!"** she heard Akemi desperately yell into the radio.

"I'm alright. What the hell just happened to me?! It's hard to breath?" she said while gasping for air.

"Just give it a moment Kirino. Your suit is adjusting your oxygen mixture to keep you alive. You just pushed a lot of G's, just take deep breaths and stay focused on protecting yourself. Remember that's no Sentinel you're piloting. All you have to do is think about what you want to do and work the pedals and sticks, the AI will do the rest. But you have to stay in control of your mind or else that will happen again. One moment you're in control, but if you allow it, the next moment it will control you!"

Kirino watched as the Hecate passed her by in a blur of purple light as it moved ahead and through the formation of Sentinels slicing two of them in half with its beam sabers and then circled around and raised an energy shield from its left arm to block incoming fire which exploded on her shield and flung the Hecate backwards in an out of control spin which she quickly recovered from and sped towards a third Sentinel and slashed through it with its beam sabers. Speed was the Hecate's greatest asset. It was faster than a Sentinel's engines could turn it to keep up. So fast the pilot should be in g-loc.

But she didn't have time to gawk as warnings blared in her cockpit that she was being targeted and something in her mind told her who was about to fire. She hit the pedals to evade fire from the others and activated her energy shield to block the shots of the one who had her locked up while pushing the controls forward to move the Medea towards it. She didn't have to manually manipulate the arm, all she had to do was allow her killer instinct to take over and the Medea did the rest by impaling the Sentinel through the cockpit with its beam saber.

"It's like I was trying to tell you when we were practicing Kirino. When you pilot the Medea, you have to stop thinking of it as a mobile suit. Treat the machine as a part of your own body. Think of its arms and legs as your own. And it will obey your commands. All you have to do is make it go where you want it to go and stay alert."

"It's like riding an untamed horse..." she said while taking deep and heavy breaths.

"I wouldn't know what that's like…" muttered Akemi.

Kirino looked to her right and saw two Sentinels coming at her, she was about to turn to face them and reverse away but two more were on her left side as well. So she reversed from her current position to bring them all in front of her and raised her energy shields to block their fire but now there was no way to evade them or return fire. A warning blared on her display outlining the energy shield and informed her that its power limit was quickly approaching. Suddenly the two Sentinels were impaled by energy beams and the two others broke off. Kirino's eyes followed the paths of the beams straight to the Persephone with its massive beam cannons swung up over its shoulders. The rest of the Pluton forces not far behind him.

There wasn't any time to express gratitude. The Sentinels were scattering to pick their targets and she had to do the same. The Pluton forces were still out numbered and even with their vastly superior technology this could still go very wrong. But if Akemi's skill was anything to go by for the standard level of competency, she felt they would be alright.

But Akemi was not the standard. Two Myrmidons were destroyed as soon as the battle was joined and three others were damaged before they could even fire a shot. "It doesn't matter how good your mobile suit is if you're not a skilled pilot…" she muttered to herself as the panoramic display showed her a status report on her allied forces. Out of twenty five suits only twenty one remained functional. The three damaged suits were forced to retreat. Twenty one mobile suits to the Imperium's thirty two.

"Mercedes! We need an equalizer. We can't leave our guys out numbered while we go after the station. Do your thing. Riley and Kirino give her support. Akemi, on me!"

"Understood!" said Dennis as the Cerberus drew out its large beam rifle and fired into an enemy Sentinel, annihilating it with a single blast. His beam rifle was then outlined on the panoramic display to indicate it's recharge period. But the powerful blast was enough to make his enemies scatter before him in abject terror. "Thirty seconds to beam magnum recharge, it's on you Mercedes!" he yelled while directing his right arm towards a Sentinel headed for the Erinyes. From the arm detached the entire claw assembly, an engine on its tail ignited and flew the claws towards the Sentinel while the three claws heated up and impaled the mobile suit through the chest and melted through the entire chassis before flying back to the Cerberus and reattaching to its arm.

"Oh? So only when Efren orders it do you back me up?" she complained while the Erinyes deployed its wings and began launching its drones. Her Arbalest cannons now free to deploy up over her shoulders on either side of her head and two gatling beam cannons deployed from under her forearm panels. "Gundam Erinyes assault mode active! Drones deployed, going in!"

* * *

Kiku sat along the side wall of a transport ship with a dozen other marines around her and listened intently on her radio to the voices of the pilots as they engaged in their first real battle against the Imperium.

"I'm sure your girlfriend will be fine Sergeant," said an officer sitting across from her with an encouraging smile.

"She's not my girlfriend Lieutenant," she answered, "Not yet at least," she added in a lower voice and then went back to listening to the radio.

" _Six Sentinels destroyed or disabled, recalling drones for recharge. Continuing assault with gatling guns and arbalest cannons."_

" _Persephone is providing support fire for Erinyes. Hecate, and Medea switch to beam rifles and provide additional fire support. Cerberus take rear guard until we break through their line and make a go at the station! Keep the Beam Magnum charged and take a shot at any large calibre turret you spot and continue firing with each charge cycle until you clear away enough for our ships to have a safe approach vector."_

" _Understood Efren."_

" _We've lost three more Myrmidons. What the hell are you useless people doing out there! Provide cover for each other like you trained to!"_

" _But Commander Kazuki! This isn't a simula-"_

" _No it isn't a simulation! But that's no excuse to ignore your training gods damn it! Stay focused! Group up! Stick to your phalanx formations! Shields up front and heavy weapons behind! Switch roles as the situation calls for!"_

Kiku balled her fists in frustration. "I should have been a mobile suit pilot…"

"Then you'd be wishing you could be with us when we finally storm that station," said the Lieutenant with a chuckle. "Just remember that every job is important. What they're going through out there right now will be for nothing if we screw up our mission."

* * *

"We're through their lines! Loosen up our formation and expect defensive fire from the station!" said Efren over the radio as his eyes scanned the station locking onto the CIWS turrets on the station's outer rings.

Volubilis station was a collection of modules stuck together to form a greater whole. The top section with the most defensive turrets was enormous with dozens of long docking ports all around its perimeter and protruding for over thirty meters. Large antennae protruded from the top and bottom of the station for its sensors and communications systems. But the primary targets were the large defensive turrets designed to bring down hostile starships. They also had to destroy enough of the CIWS turrets to prevent their marine's boarding shuttles from being shot down.

But as they started moving towards their attack vectors something happened and hundreds of devices appeared out of the station's hull and fired beams of light in all directions. One beam nearly hit the Hecate but to Akemi's relief only passed between its deployed wings.

"Looks like our insider failed! The lightwave barrier system is coming online!" said Dennis.

"Wait for it…" answered Efren with a sly voice.

The lightwave projectors then suddenly stopped functioning and retracted back into the station's hull.

"Way to make us break a sweat…" Remarked Dennis in a deadpan voice.

"Nothing to worry about Riley. Just relax and stay focused. Kirino, I'm sending you an open frequency, would you please advise the station to surrender before this gets needlessly bloody?"

Kirino nodded in response, "With pleasure. But may I suggest we do some damage first? That way they're more likely to get the point," she said while speeding up and holding her shields in front of her to block the incoming bullets from the station's defense turrets.

Meanwhile Akemi sped along in the opposite direction to draw fire with her shields up in front of her. "Would you please start shooting things? Our shields have limits!" she yelled while keeping an eye on the shield's power consumption rate.

"I've got your back Akemi just hold your current course!' said Mercedes while scanning over the turrets with her eyes, she picked two and fired on them with her assault cannons while the Persephone did the same with two of the turrets shooting at the Medea.

Meanwhile Dennis dove for the station while the turrets were busy with his comrades and transformed his Gundam into its quadrupedal form. When it landed it activated magnetic locks on its feet to keep it on the station, allowing to run as if there was gravity. He charged for the first large turret he could find. The beam magnum rifle was fully charged and mounted on the right side of the machine. He fired the weapon and the beam went straight through the turret and destroyed its firing mechanism permanently putting it out of commission. With thirty seconds until he could fire again he had plenty of time to reach the next target. Running along the hull as he was there was no way any of the defensive turrets could get a firing solution on him so he was free to move around with impunity.

Meanwhile the turrets switched targets from the Medea and Hecate and turned on the Erinyes and Persephone forcing both of them to go defensive. "Akemi, Kirino! It's all on you now! Take over!"

"Can our beam rifles defeat that armor?" wondered Kirino while shooting at a turret to test. But it had no effect. The Medea then put away its beam rifle on its lower back and then drew out its single hand held Ballista assault cannon and fired on the turret destroying it. "What's Akemi going to do?" she wondered while locking up the next target.

Meanwhile Akemi drew out her beam rifle and targeted one of the turrets which then switched targets from the Erinyes back to her, forcing her to put up her shield with her right hand and fired back with her left. Two shots did no damage so she tightened her grip on the control stick and focused her mind on commanding the machine's power distribution system.

"What are you going to do?" wondered Hecate.

"I'm going to overclock my beam rifle by channeling more power to it. It'll weaken the shield but it'll do the job. Mercedes is still pinned down by the other turrets… We still have the phase shift armor so we can survive a few hits easily enough."

Hecate looked out at the beam rifle while the panoramic display indicated its power charge levels increasing to 120% and eventually to 200% power and then displayed a warning message. "You'd better pray this works…" she said tensely.

"I am praying. I'm talking to _you_ aren't I?" remarked Akemi with a cheesy smirk behind her helmet at Hecate.

"Ahh. Good point," she said as the energy shield fizzled out. Then Akemi pulled the trigger and fired her beam rifle at 220% of its normal output which destroyed the turret. The Gundam suffered a few hits but the armor system worked as it was suppose to and no damage was incurred.

"Now I hope you're as good as you seem to think you are Akemi. Without your shield you can't take any more hits like that."

Akemi waved her hands over her control panels before taking up the control sticks. The beam rifle was over heated so she had to put it away and then she went for the Ascalon beam buster sword and went in towards the station at full speed. "Power transferred from booster wings to shield capacitors, that'll speed up the recharge. Power output to sword at maximum required. We just need to be mindful to only destroy the turrets and not rupture the hull."

"What do you mean 'we'? You're the pilot. I'm just your passenger and commentator."

"In the military we call that being a co-pilot," said Akemi. "Besides. This Gundam is named after you. So if you want to be useful to it just keep an eye out around us for anything I might need to know about while I do surgery on these turrets."

"If I were your imagination I wouldn't be able to tell you anything you don't already know."

"I'm a Newtype and a Technomage, my spatial awareness is vastly superior to a normal Human's. So _yes_. You could tell me things I'm not consciously aware of because of that."

"Do I detect arrogance in your voice Akemi? Don't be like your friend Riley."

"It's just a fact," said Akemi as she directed her Gundam to impale a turret with her sword. "It's only arrogant if I think it makes me better than someone else. Which I don't. I'm just as capable of failure as any other human. Also a proven fact! I couldn't even protect my own family!" she yelled while slicing through another turret.

"The only thing I had that made everything I've been through up until now worth while! Thinking about my mother and father got me through my training. It got me through my implanting procedure! Now they're gone! And I'm all alone!" she yelled while punching yet another turret and impaling it with the Tombstone pile bunker in her forearm and then finishing it off with a slice from the Ascalon.

"You have two Sentinels coming in from above and behind you," said Hecate who had her head turned towards the rear of the cockpit to see what was behind them. "And for what it's worth. You're not alone. All your friends keep telling you that. You also have me here. I won't abandon you."

"Will you fight with me then? Will you lend me your power?" she said as the Gundam leapt off the station. She redistributed the power back to its normal levels and activated her booster wings to take her towards the incoming Sentinels.

"I already told you. I can't directly interfere. All I can do is be by your side."

"That's all I need! I can do anything with you by my side!"

* * *

"This is Efren Valerio. Mission accomplished. Volubilis defense turrets in this quarter are down. Main batteries are also destroyed. Carriers are clear to approach and launch boarding craft. All Mobile suits redirect your efforts on the enemy Sentinels and kill 'em all. Good hunting!" he then switched channels to speak to Kirino. "I think we've done enough damage. If they don't get the point now, they never will."

Kirino took a very deep breath and acknowledged before setting her radio the frequency she was given. "Volubilis station. This is Kirino Akiyama speaking to you on behalf of the Sovereign Spheres Alliance. Your Lightwave barrier is inoperative. Your main guns have been destroyed and your close in weapons systems are crippled. I order you to stand down and surrender or we will continue our attack until you do."

A few tense moments of wondering if they even heard the message later there was a response. "This is Sir Eric Hunt. Acting Knight-Commander of Volubilis station. What guarantee do we have of fair treatment if we surrender?"

Kirino looked over at Efren on her active video link who nodded to her. Kirino then pressed her transmit button, "If you surrender now I give you my word none of you will be harmed. You will be held comfortably on Pluto until such time that arrangements for your safe return to the Earth sphere can be made. But only if you surrender now. If our boarding parties have to take the station by force I can not guarantee anyone's safety. If anyone fires on our boarding parties, this offer will be voided and you will all die here. I await your response."

Kirino looked over at Efren who nodded to her. Kirino kept her guard up though. For the moment there was a lull in the battle as the mobile suits all waited with their weapons pointed at each other.

"Who is the commander of the SSA force?" asked Sir Eric.

Efren pressed his transmit button. "This is Commander Efren Valerio. I am the operational commander here."

"Very well. Commander Valerio. I will surrender to you. Not to that traitor," he said in a cold voice.

"You're hardly in a position to be calling anyone a traitor Sir Eric. But on behalf of the SSA and the Technocratic State of Pluto, I accept your surrender. Our Marines will be coming aboard your station now. Have your troops stand down and disarm. Have your mobile suits disarm as well."

There was no response but a few moments later the Sentinels began discarding their weapons as instructed.

The Erinyes flew up beside the Medea and Mercedes' image appeared in front of her mobile suit on Kirino's display. "You're not a traitor. It's exactly what you said before. You'd only be a traitor if you betrayed what you stand for. As long as you continue to serve your ideals, it doesn't matter which uniform you wear or whose emblem you carry on your mobile suit."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience?"

Mercedes looked away from Kirino, "Maybe I am…"


End file.
